


A Disease Known As Freedom

by p0is0ned_y0uth



Category: All Time Low, Bring Me The Horizon, Crown The Empire, Fall Out Boy, My Chemical Romance, Of Mice & Men (Band), Panic! at the Disco, Pierce the Veil, The Resistance: Rise Of The Runaways
Genre: Emphasis on loosely, Loosely based on the concept for The Resistance: Rise Of The Runaways, M/M, Oli Austin and Alan will come in later I promise, Rebellion, Resistance, Scarecrows, alternative universe - apocalypse, and Dallon brallon will be a thing i swear, powers, same with the rest of Fall Out Boy
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-09-21
Updated: 2015-05-08
Packaged: 2018-02-18 08:01:43
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 17
Words: 23,425
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2341028
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/p0is0ned_y0uth/pseuds/p0is0ned_y0uth
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Mikey had been gifted for as long as he could remember. But will that gift be enough to stop the death of everyone he's ever known and loved? With the end of the world erupting around him, how many people will he be able to save? </p><p>Disclaimer - The Resistance: Rise Of The Runaways and any of the characters in this are not mine.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Bring Me The Sound Of Your Guns

Gun shot.

Mikey's eyes snapped open at the sound. Oh God, he knew this day had been coming. That image burning in his brain - the smoke in the sky, the bodies on the cold, wet ground, the screams. He had tried to warp it every way he could, create every possible scenario, try to find something that could prevent so much destruction, so much  **death**. But there was nothing. No, all Mikey could was save all of the people in the room he currently slept in. 'Well', he thought to himself, biting his bottom lip to fight the lump at the back of his throat. 'Almost all'. 

Gun shot.

This time, Gerard shot up, eyes wide, back dead straight, his arm still awkwardly draped around Frank's neck. Frank groaned now from the sudden jolt from his boyfriend.

'What is it, Gee, I'm trying to sleep.'

'Sh' Gerard said quickly, his eyes wide and his gaze landing on Mikey after darting across the room a couple times. He frowned. 'How long have you been up, Mikes?'

'I-' he started. Then the first scream began. A woman, late twenties, at least that's what she'd looked like when Mikey had first seen this. 'There's no time to explain. We need to leave, now. The treehouse from when we were kids in the park across the road. They can't find us there.'

'What are you-'

'We don't have time, Gee! Unless you want to die, unless you want _Frank_ to die, please just listen to me!'

Frank scoffed from beside Gerard. 'Dude, what're you on?'

The remark was cut off by another scream. Followed by 2 more. Followed by another 10. Pretty soon the street and homes were filled with the sounds of screams and guns and  **death** and Mikey wanted to be sick. But he couldn't lose it, not when he was the only one keeping his brother alive. Keeping Pete alive.

'Pete, wake up.' He whispered to the guy lying beside him. 'Pete, please, it's - it's happening.' With that, Pete's eyes shot open and he scrambled to his feet, saying, 'Alright, everyone out of the emergency exit immediately. Unless you bitches wanna have your asses shot off and a couple of grenades lodged deeply down your throat, I suggest you fucking pay attention to Mikey.'

Ray had woken up now as well, making his way towards the emergency exit with bleary eyes. He looked at Mikey, sending him a reassuring smile. He'd always been able to tell when someone was upset, and he'd always been able to cheer them up in a heartbeat. Mikey's gaze didn't meet his eyes.

'O-ok, no questions asked until I say so.' Mikey said, the five making their way down the fire escape of the hotel they'd been staying at. Thank God Gerard had agreed to the stingey shit hole for his 28th birthday. He supposed he'd been way too drunk and way too distracted by Frank to have been able to make a logical decision about it. The only difficult part had been convincing Gerard to pick that bar, the only one even remotely close to the treehouse. Once he had, and once Gerard's common sense was out of the picture, he'd been able to pick the closest hotel, the lowest available floor. He'd made the scenario as simple as possible for the situation they had been thrust into. The narrow staircase was even situated in a position so close to the neighbouring building they were practically invisible, the room so low they were on the ground in a matter of seconds. 

'Ok, stay behind me!' Mikey said as loudly as he could without bringing unwanted attention to himself. His eyes darted wildly around his friends. He could still stop it, he could still stop what he'd seen. 'Stay behind-'

'The Treehouse, I can see it!' Ray yelled, running forward.

'Ray, no, you're-'

Gun shot.

Blood soaked Ray's shirt as he fell to the ground, his back hitting the cold concrete. His body was eventually trampled by the feet of the screaming, the panicking, and those who would soon be in his position. Mikey couldn't hear them. Mikey was numb.

'Mikes, please, keep it together.' Pete said, his hands on the taller guy's shoulder.

'I couldn't stop it-'

'Mikey, there was nothing you could've done. You know that.'

Mikey swallowed, sniffing. He nodded slowly, turning back to the crowd of screams. Gerard was in Frank's arms behind him, his eyes red from tears. 

'Ok. We - we can't think about that right now. We just - we just need to get to the Treehouse. When I say go, you run. Run and don't stop running until you get there. Got it?' He turned back to them violently at the last question. Gerard's body was still shaking with sobs. Mikey grabbed his brother's arm firmly.

'Got it, Gee?!' he yelled. Gerard sniffed, a few more tears falling quickly down his cheeks. But he nodded, wiping his eyes. There would be time to cry later. 

Frank was merely glaring.

'Ok.' Mikey continued, looking out over the stampede of people one last time. 'Go!'

The four sprinted through the crowd, maneuvering between cramped bodies, slipping in the mud, water and blood that littered the ground. Bodies fell around them as their eyes locked on the Treehouse.

 

The screaming was deafening. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So that was sad. I'll probably upload more soon if this gets read. Panic! and All Time Low will be added soon. The song that influenced the title of this chapter is this one https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=khKY8ZFbvfQ


	2. Too Tired To Light The Fire

The Treehouse was practically invisible unless you knew exactly what it looked like. Ray had- Ray and the Way brothers had played there almost every day when they were young. It had been created straight out of the largest, sturdiest tree they could find. They hollowed it out, added wooden plants to parts of the outside - it could have held 10 grown men by the time they were done. And it had held, after all those years, sturdy as ever.

The sounds of gunshots and  **screaming** left their ears ringing as they finished the sprint into the park. Well, they'd always called it a park - it was got closer to a small forest as the trees thickened. The Treehouse was deeper in than most would go, especially people who were the same age as the boys when they'd built the thing. They kept running until they were deep enough to be invisible to whoever the hell was shooting.

'Ok, is anyone missing?' Mikey looked around for his friend, brother and boyfriend. Gerard had burst into tears again, Pete ran into Mikey's arms for a hug both of them very much needed, and Frank - Frank just kept glaring. He looked like he was waiting for something - the right moment?

They walked a little further until they reached the tree, Mikey knocking on the trunk until he found a hollow section. He pushed it back, a door swinging inwards. The four climbed in hurriedly, Mikey barely inside before he felt strong hands grasping around his neck, blocking off the air.

'Frank, what the fuck are you doing?!' Pete yelled, running towards them only to be pushed to the ground, hard, his head hitting the thick wooden wall. His eyes rolled back into his head. Knocked out.

'Pete!' Mikey gasped weakly, Frank's tattooed fingers digging into his throat. His eyes started closing as Frank finally let him breathe, pushing him to the floor, Mikey's limp body sliding back weakly. He was conscious, but barely. 

'It's your fault!' Frank growled. Mikey's eyes widened. Those words. The words that had haunted him for months, the words that had led to countless panic attacks, the anxiety that had silenced him in so many situations he'd lost count. It had been Frank. 'It's your fault Ray's dead! You could have stopped it!'

'How-' Mikey panted on the ground, air flooding back into his lungs. 'How did you know?'

'You and your little boyfriend aren't the only ones with talents, Michael.' He pulled a knife out from the folds of his jacket. 'Now Ray is dead because of you. His blood is on your hands. I'm just returning the favour.' He thrust the knife upwards, ready to send the blade soaring into Mikey's back, when suddenly-

'Frank, stop it!' Gerard ran between his brother and the knife, Frank's arm freezing, the tip millimetres from the fabric of Gerard's shirt.

'Get out of my fucking way, Gerard.'

'No, Frank, think about what you're doing, that's Mikey, that's my brother, and there's no humanly possible way for him to have been able to save Ray-'

'Get out my way, Gerard.'

'Frank-'

A hand crossed Gerard's face, forcing him out of the way. Frank had hit him.

Frank had hit him. 

Gerard clasped his cheek in his hand, already feeling a bruise forming. Tears fell from his eyes at the betrayal.

'F-Frank?'

Frank's eyes were wide, his hand unclenching, the knife clattering to the ground.

'Gee, Gerard, I'm-I didn't mean it, you know me, baby I-'

'Don't call me that.' Gerard said, looking Frank directly in the eye. Frank did all he could not to look away. The look in Gerard's eyes - it was overwhelming.

'I-I'm sorry-'

Suddenly the ground shook beneath him. A wall of earth formed around him, entrapping him in a makeshift cell, the earth thickening to the point in which there was no escape, a long barred window forming in line with his shoulders.

'No you're not. You're a monster.' Pete said, his arm extended and consciousness fully regained. 'If you were sorry you wouldn't have tried to murder the man who just saved your life.' He moved Mikey off the ground, looping an arm around his waist to keep him upright, his current state far too weakened to be able to stand independently. He glanced at Gerard who's eyes beside being red with tears and one swollen, were wide with shock. 

'H-How?'

'Oh, that. Ok, I'm gonna make this brief, but me and Mikey and apparently Frank-' the name appears to disgust him, and he spat at the cell. 'We're blessed with lovely supernatural abilities. I can control earth and underground stuff, Mikey can see into the future, and Frank - care to share with the class, Frankie?'

'Mind reader' he muttered.

'Mind reading, apparently including murderous, psychotic rampages.'

'Shut the fuck up, Wentz.'

'You tried to murder my boyfriend, Iero, you don't have any rights here. Anyway, according to-'

'Shit!' Mikey's eyes widened, cutting Pete off. 'We have about five minutes until a raid of Scarecrows find the Treehouse. Pete, you've gotta pull us under.'

Pete nodded in response, extending his arms.

'Gee, grab a torch.'

Gerard put aside his confusion, fear and prominent thoughts of 'what the fuck is a Scarecrow' to grab the nearest 'torch', a medieval wooden club on fire that Mikey thought would look cool. Fuckin nerd. The four of them sunk below the floor, a new floor forming above them, concealing them completely from sight.

'I added a crevice for the torch.' Pete said casually, Gerard hastily placing the torch into it.

'Thank you for not leaving Frank's cell up there.' Mikey said softly. The cell had transitioned from the top level to the bottom with them, Frank's face riddled with a mixture of regret and rage inside it.

'I was so close to leaving him for them to deal with.'

'Look, Mikey, I'm sorry, I don't know what came over me. Sorrow? Fear? Please forgive-'

'Shut up, Iero! You're filth!' Pete yelled. 

'Pete!' The Ways yelled.

'What?! He's a horrible person, he doesn't deserve-'

'Pete!' Mikey said, his eyes wide with fear. 'Stop talking!'

'But I-'

'Listen!' As silence took over the underground tunnel they resided in, another sound became apparent from above. Three thumps, each about a second apart, the next three occurring five seconds later. Pete frowned as he looked up at the ceiling. Gerard couldn't stop shaking, not noticing the longing glances from Frank that expressed his need to bundle up the taller guy in his arms and sing him to sleep. 

'Wha-' Pete started, his eyes slowly crossing over the length of the roof.

Crunch.

A chunk of the roof gave way, the head of an axe poking its way through momentarily.

'Run!' Mikey yelled, the group above them howling in triumph as they tried to fit their large bodies through the small hole.

Pete, Mikey and Gerard went off at a sprint when Gerard stopped, Mikey suddenly realising their mistake.

'Frank!' Gerard yelled, panic ringing through his voice.

'Pete, let him out!' Mikey yelled.

'I can't, he won't make it in time!'

'Pete, you- Gerard!'

Gerard had sprinted back to the cell, memories of the hit apparently forgotten. He kicked at the side of it, clawing at the solid dirt that surrounded Frank. Thuds were still going from the roof, the hole only getting bigger.

'Pete, please!' Fear filled Pete's eyes and he froze. 

'No, no, Pete, you can't freak out now! Pete! Gerard needs you! I need you!'

 

 

 

Thump.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm so sorry. Chapter title comes from this one https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BY17Rg0ppKw


	3. There Came A Pack Of Wolves

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *slur warning (I'm so so so sorry it's a horrible word that should never ever be used in real life by anyone)*

The first man had dropped through the hole, advancing towards Gerard, gun ready.

'Gerard!' Frank and Mikey yelled in unison. The man put his finger to the trigger of the gun, the gun practically touching Gerard's back, Gerard still blindly and desperately digging at the side of Frank's cell, tears of fear and distress streaming down his face. The man smirked but then stopped, shock coming onto his face. A pillar of solid earth, sharp and pointed at the top, had pierced through his chest. His body went limp, though still standing, the pillar holding him in place. Pete turned to Mikey, smiling at his own achievement. Sadly, the happiness was short lived.

'Hey, we've got a wolf down here!' A man yelled from above. Pete's eyes widened.

'Wolf...' Mikey murmured. 'I remember that, it was a codeword for something...' Mikey's eyes widened as the realisation hit him. 'No.'

'Us.' Pete nodded. The two turned to run when Pete fell, his body twisting and jerking as he hit the floor. A glowing blue bullet was lodged into his back.

'Pete?' Mikey whispered, fear not allowing his voice to come out in full.

'What do we do with the rest?' He heard one of the men say - about four had come down. One of them was laughing at Gerard's pointless attempts to release Frank, Frank screaming at him to run away from them. Mikey was frozen.

'Waste 'em?'

'Nah, could be more wolves.'

'Which one had the tracker?'

'Uh.... the one in the cell I think.'

'Well knock out the whack job over there and get him out of whatever that is. I'll get the skinny one over there.'

Mikey still couldn't move as the man approached him. Their eyes met and he sneered, shoving Mikey to the ground.

'You were gonna run, weren't you? Run like a bloody coward, abandon the fags over there and save yourself. Shit, you're too much of a bloody coward to run alone! You needed Mr. Magic Man to run with you! Too bad. Now every one of you's gonna die.'

'Nice speech, but they're not dying.' Came an unfamiliar voice from the dark. Suddenly, the tunnel was filled with fiery light, flames thrown at the man standing above Mikey. He fell to his knees, screaming in pain. Mikey was shaken back to reality, throwing himself out of the path of the flames. He glanced towards Gerard, whose body was slumped against the side of a wall. The flames went around him, however, engulfing the man standing over him, as well as the two hacking at Frank's cell, the wooden handles of the axes not doing much to stop the flames. When the four had been burned to a least unconsciousness, four figured came out of the darkness. 

'Is anyone hurt?' One of them said, running forward. His dark hair was singed slightly, his palms glowing with heat.

'I-I think we're good.' Mikey said, slowly standing. 'Who-who are you?'

'It doesn't matter.' One of them, the furthest into the darkness, snapped.

'Shut up, Ryan, it's the fucking apocalypse.' One of them glared at him. He turned to face Mikey, smiling. 'I'm Spencer. Sour puss back there is Ryan, this guy is Jon and flame prince over there is Brendon.'

'I'm Mikey.' Mikey replied. 'The body over there is Pete, the body over there is Gerard and the guy in the cell is Frank.' He added, a hint of mockery in his tone. 

Brendon half smiled at the remark. Mikey raised an eyebrow.

'Not dead, but I suppose you knew that.' Brendon nodded gesturing to Spencer to follow him towards Gerard. 'Woah, what are you doing?'

'You want to wake him up, or do we have to carry him?' Ryan sneered.

'Fuck off, Ryan.' Mikey said. Jon high-fived him. His gaze fell back on Spencer and Brendon, who were knelt over Gerard. 

'Ready?' Brendon said, making Mikey even more concerned.

Spencer nodded, opening his hands towards Gerard's face.

'Wait, what are you-' Mikey started.

A splash of water ejected from Spencer's palms, soaking Gerard in clear water, who woke up coughing and spluttering.

'M-Mikey?' he spluttered, his vision adjusting to the dim light of the undergroun. He yelped at the vision of the two strangers, attempting to run away, when Mikey ran towards them.

'Gee, Gerard, calm down, it's ok. This is Brendon and Spencer. They're here to help.'

Thud. 

Brendon turned a millisecond too late, two bullets fired throughout the tunnel before the newcomer was engulfed in flames.

'Jon!' Ryan yelled. 

Brendon turned for a second before hearing the cry from beside him, Spencer's thigh drenched in blood.

'Spence!' 

'No, it's ok, I'm, I'm fine.'

'Spencer, you got shot!'

'I can start fixing it with my water, go.... go see Jon.'

Brendon looked back at his friend one more time before sprinting to Jon's side.

'Ryan, what-'

'Dead.' Brendon gasped, tears filling his eyes. Ryan's eyes were red. 'Shot straight in the chest. Bullet went straight through. He's gone, Brendon.'

Brendon breathed deeply. Jon had been a friend, a great friend. But he couldn't let that destroy him, not now. He had seen how Mikey had frozen after Pete was hit, how he'd been unable to save even himself. He couldn't let that happen. He needed to stay strong for everyone. For Ryan. For Spencer. He took a deep breath and faced Ryan again.

'Spencer got shot too, leg wound. He's cleaning it. Everyone else is fine.' He turned to where the others were standing, raising his voice. 'Ok, there were more of them, who have no doubt gone back to get backup. Which means we need to move quickly. The second Spencer's able to walk we leave. Spence, you ok to wake up earth boy over there?'

Spencer breathed deeply and nodded slowly, his energy draining.

'Wait, how did you know Pete could manipulate earth? He was knocked out before you stepped in.' Frank started, glaring. 'Unless you were there the whole time.'

Brendon opened his mouth to answer, then closed it. It was true, they had been watching. And if he was going to be totally honest-

'You enjoyed it!' Frank yelled. 'You found it funny! Ryan laughed when Gerard was seconds away from getting shot in the back!'

'How did you-'

'You two and Pete aren't the only two with special skills.'

The two glared at each other for a second until Mikey interrupted.

'Look, if we don't start going in less than exactly 17 minutes, we're all gonna die. So can we please postpone this staring contest.'

'Wait, how-'

'Pre-cog.'

'Oh.' Brendon felt light-headed. Spencer was the only person he'd ever known that had abilities. Now suddenly there were five in the same room. It wasn't exactly a common thing to have, Spencer had taken months for him to track down. He shook his head. 'Someone get Pete's body next to Spencer please.' 

Mikey and Ryan obliged, being the only people able-bodied enough, not locked up and not Brendon. It didn't take long to move the body, Pete being significantly smaller than both of them. They lay him down beside Spencer, his body still limp, face down so the bullet wasn't dug in any deeper. 

'Oh, these aren't used to penetrate, just stun and electrocute for five seconds to knock out the target. It should be easy to remove.' Brendon took it out with ease, melting it between his fingers before it could do him any serious harm.

'It had a tracker in it.' Frank muttered, leaning against one of the bars of his cell. 'Kudos for melting it.'

'Tracker,' Mikey murmured. The word sounded familiar, but with deeper meaning than just the definition. He had the same nauseating feeling of déjà vu that the word 'wolf' had given him. His eyes widened once again at the realisation. 

'There's another one!' 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter title comes from this one https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-ccrSdXvQQg


	4. I Keep Running Away

'There's another one!' Mikey yelled, not realising the volume of his voice until everyone jumped. 'Um, I mean, there's another tracker on someone. That's how they found us before. They were intent on our exact spot, so I'm guessing it wasn't Ryan, Brendon, Spencer or Jon. I would've predicted something if it was on me.'

Pete had been awoken by the same method as Gerard while Mikey spoke, having basically the same reaction to the new faces. 

'Hey Pete, that's Brendon, that's Spencer, they're gifted, that's Ryan, he's a douche, blah blah blah.' Mikey said, his tone bored.

'Wha-'

'Gerard, while you were running to the Treehouse did you feel anything? Like a stinging feeling, or getting injected by a needle.'

'Oh, God.' Gerard shivered. 'I sure as hell hope not. No I- I think I would've known if a needle had gone anywhere near me.'

Mikey rolled his eyes.

'There was nothing else on Pete, I would've seen it.' Brendon said.

'And the water would've shorted out any tracker anyway, particularly if it were external. Since I doubt they would've had time to properly inject a tracker beneath the skin, I think we can safely rule out Gerard and Pete-' Spencer was interrupted by three more thumps from above. His eyes widened.

'Run!' Pete released Frank from the cell, who ran almost immediately to Gerard, holding the light-headed man around the waist.

'I'll let you be pissed at me later.' He whispered, the two moving as quickly as they could through the darkness, Mikey, Pete, Brendon and Ryan not far behind.

'Ok, everyone followed me to-' Brendon stopped. Spencer.

'Spence!' He yelled, running back to his friend. 'Spencer, get up, we've gotta go.'

'I-' Spencer stopped, taking a deep breath. 'I can't. I've lost too much blood. Without proper stitching water can only go so far. Plus, I'm a wolf. I'll be sure to show them that.' Brendon nodded, seeing Spencer's plan. 

'F-fine. Just - be ready when I come get you, ok?'

Spencer nodded sadly, bits of rock falling from the ceiling.

'Run.'

'Spence, I-'

'Run!' Brendon obeyed, tears streaming from his eyes as he sprinted towards the other. Ryan had done well leading them back so far, but Brendon knew this system like the back of his hand. They'd be at the base in a matter of minutes under Brendon's lead.

'How?' Frank said to him, his eyes narrow.

'How what?' Brendon spat back.

'How do you know the tunnel system so well? The attack start, what, 3, 4 hours ago?'

'2 weeks.' Brendon said coldly. 'It hit around here 6 hours ago. Nothing was reported. There's no one left to report it if anything had been. Overall this has been in progress for 7 months. I've been living here for 6.'

'So you knew for 6 months that the world was going to be torn to shreds?' Frank growled. Gerard flinched. The last time Frank had sounded like that he'd tried to murder Mikey.

'Calm down, Frankie.' He said softly, Frank glaring at him in return. 

'I had connections.' Brendon continued, his expression stable. 'I also had common sense. I hid away the people that mattered to me, but not too many that it became noticeable. Do you realise how much more death there would've been if I'd sent out a warning? They would've had me killed and anyone else who knew me killed, and you and your fucking boyfriend would've been slaughtered while you sat in your damn cell waiting for death. Warning people wouldn't have helped anyone but the enemy.'

Frank was silenced, his eyes cold. Gerard trembled at his side. Shit, Gerard had had a big day. So his brother, his boyfriend and his brother's boyfriend had super powers. Sweet. Under any other circumstances that would be awesome. However, it was a lot less awesome when the world was ending. God, the current situation made his brothers near murder and the possibility that he was in a relationship with an abusive psychopath seem practically irrelevant.

'You said you had connections.' Mikey said from behind them.

'I'm gonna keep that information confidential for now.' Brendon said bluntly. 'You'll meet them when they want you to.'

Ryan hadn't said a word throughout the walk. He couldn't help but cringe at everything Brendon said to these strangers that had gotten both Jon and Spencer killed in less than 2 hours. Brendon would slip up eventually, say too much. They would be betrayed in a heartbeat. Ryan hadn't liked Brendon when they first met - he had been this hyperactive, impulsive child that spoke too fast and thought too briefly. That image had been re-carved into his mind when the end started all those months ago - in actual fact Brendon was nothing like what he had been. The loss the Scarecrows had caused him had transformed him into something cold and hard and ruthless. But Ryan only ever saw a child.

'Why so grumpy, Mr. Gloomy Pants?' Pete said, walking a few feet behind Ryan.

'Fuck off, asshole. I didn't ask you to come with us. If it were up to me I'd have shot every one of you by now.'

'And I'd have buried you six feet under solid earth before you'd taken off the safety.'

Ryan scoffed. 'I'd like to see you try.'

Pete raised an eyebrow and Ryan felt himself start to sink. In a matter of second he was deep down inside a hole, Pete smiling down at his from above. He was back up in a matter of seconds, a glare on his face. 

'So, how many of you are wolves?'

'Just me, Mikes and Frank.'

Ryan shook his head. Brendon knew how much the Raven wanted wolves. The Raven was the conductor of all of this. All of the crap that the world was going to was his fault, his idea. The Scarecrows were his soldiers, his 'enforcers'. They hadn't sounded that menacing at first, but they were ruthless. And there were so many of them. It had been hard enough keeping two wolves hidden with that much force hunting them. But adding three more? It was practically impossible. It was too late now, though. As much as he wanted to be, Ryan wasn't totally heartless. Brendon had elected the four as his own - Ryan had to respect that.

'Oh, we're close now, it's just around this bend.' Brendon yelled from behind them. 'Hey, earth moving guy, whatever your name is-'

'Pete'

'Pete! Can you sense if anyone's close?'

'Uh,' Pete concentrated for a second, feeling the vibrations of the ground. 'No, I think we're good.'

'Ok.' Brendon advanced alone, slowly, for a few metres, tracing his hand against the wall. He stopped at a crevice and knocked the wall beside it three times. The wall opened suddenly, appearing to be pushed aside from the inside. As Brendon moves inside he is immediately faced with an extremely close, extremely pissed off facial expression.

'Where the fuck have you been?! I was supposed to be back to Jack an hour ago! And Zack left 15 minutes ago he was so bored!'

'You guys can come in now.' Brendon called to the five people waiting outside. 'It's nice to see you too, Alex.'

'Don't give me that, Urie! I have other commitments, I can't be waiting around all night for you to come back home so I can hand you a mug of hot cocoa and kiss you goodnight! That's supposed to be Spencer's job- wait where the fuck is Spencer? And who the fuck are they?' Alex had finally taken a second to look away from Brendon and to the others that had entered the room. Brendon's smile dropped at the mention of Spencer.

'The attack was bigger than we thought. Those four came down to the tunnels through the floor of the old Treehouse. Scarecrows follows. One got zapped and one got knocked out so I, uh, 'interfered'. We managed to get them all up again, but then more came down and- Jon got shot.' 

Alex's eyes widened, his hands covering his mouth.

'Straight through the chest. Died instantly. Spencer got shot in the leg and he- he couldn't move. There were more coming and we had to- we had to leave so I.... I left him. I let him get taken.'

Alex threw his arms around Brendon, squeezing him into a hug. He let go, his hands moving to Brendon's shoulders, facing him. 

'Hey, at least he's alive.'

'But how do you know-'

'He's a wolf, Brendon. They aren't gonna kill a wolf any time soon.' Brendon nodded shakily and turned back to the others. 

'Um, this is Alex Gaskarth, guys. Alex, this is Pete, Mikey, Frank and Gerard. All wolves except Gerard.'

'What?! Three wolves in one haul?! Nice going, Bren, I've only ever met three in my life, two of them being you and Spencer.'

'I hate to interrupt the blossoming romance but who the fuck is he exactly?' Frank said looking annoyed.

'Frank!' Gerard yelled. Alex's smile had disappeared.

'No need to be rude, Frank.' Frank glared at him, letting his mind slip through Alex's reading every piece of information he could. But it was like trying to catch water with one hand. It all just slipped away. 'Oh, you're a mind reader! Ugh, I hate it when they're the annoying kind of reader, not asking consent, always kinda grumpy looking.'

'How the fuck did you-'

'I've been studying wolves, of whatever they were called before Scarecrows were a thing, since I met my boyfriend. So, I think that's about 4-5 years now? I've lost count..... but I can recognise an ability on sight. For example, your friend Mikey over there possessed the ability to see into the future, and Pete can bend earth to his will among other things. Oh, and if you're wondering why you can't read my mind, it's because there are ways to block out nosey assholes such as yourself even for humans without the abilities.'

'That didn't answer my question.' Frank growled, his glare remaining solid.

'He's one of my connections.' Brendon replied bluntly.

'Oh, so one of the pretentious dicks who thought it was a bad idea to warn the world that it was going to end. In that case, I'll kill him now-'

'Frank!' Mikey yelled.

'Frank, what the fuck is wrong with you?!' Gerard was practically screaming. Mikey had to back away slightly. He'd never seen his brother this maniacal. 'Ever since we got to the Treehouse you've been intent on either cruelty or murder! That isn't you - what the fuck changed in 5 hours to turn you into an animal?!'

'I-'

Thump.

 

Thump.

 

Thump.

 

Mikey's eyes widened. 'Shit, they're- they're back, we're.... we're too late. The tracker. It's on Frank.'

The wall collapsed, 10 Scarecrows running into the room that had once been one of the most secure placed in the tunnel system. Two glowing blue bullets flew around the room, one hitting Alex square in the chest, the other lodging into Brendon's arm. Both fell to the floor, unconscious.

'Brendon!' Ryan yelled, attempting to run to him. But he was quickly surrounded by Scarecrows.

Mikey's eyes darted around the room, panic filling his chest. He could hear Gerard screaming for him, trying to get closer. But his vision was clouded, his head throbbing with pain. He felt the ground shift beneath him, vibrating with sudden movement. The he fell, and the world went black. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm so, so, so sorry. Chapter title taken from this one https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZIUGf1yVD7s


	5. Blame Me For All Of Your Wrongs

5 years later

 

'Get down!'

Mikey lowered his head behind the abandoned car that was the barricade protecting him from the consistent bullets being aimed at his head. Frank knelt beside him, his own gun set against the hood. Mikey's pistol had run out of bullets a few minutes ago. Frank fired three times, twice hitting his target, before quickly lowering himself down, grinning at Mikey just like he always used to when he got caught stealing one of the Ways' cigarettes, or opening on of the more expensive bottles of wine back before the world wasn't in ruins. 

They'd managed to fix him after Brendon's base had been raided. Pete had sunk about six or seven of the Scarecrows under 10 feet of solid earth, leaving four to finish the job. Gerard and Ryan had managed to fight them off Mikey and Brendon, but they'd seemed so determined to get to Alex. There was nothing they could have done to avoid Alex's kidnapping - they were too strong.

'Ok, Brendon's already gotten his hand on Rian, I'll distract 'em, take a couple out, try to manipulate their minds so they don't see you running off. If all else fails Brendon can light 'em up.' He glanced at Brendon after he finished, who was two cars over with another guy who they had only briefly met before. Brendon nodded at him, the message sent to him mentally. Frank counted back from three on his fingers and sprinted out into view, firing until his amo was gone. He managed to take out a solid eight of them, but five still continued to fire. Mikey had sprinted back with Brendon and the other guy, a truck layered in the dust that seemed to lie on everything now pull up at just the right moment, Ryan at the wheel.

'Where's Frank?' Mikey couldn't help but smirk. Ryan cared about Frank like a younger (smaller) brother, though he'd rather die than admit it.

'Still playing the role of distraction.' Brendon replied. 'You'll have to drive through.'

Ryan nodded. 'You know what to do when I do. Just please try not to kill anyone inside the truck.'

Brendon nodded as they climbed into the truck, preparing themselves for the impact.

'Ok. Ready?' Ryan said. Brendon nodded in response. Ryan slammed down on the gas, the car surging forward through the battle scene. Brendon surrounded the Scarecrow side of the car in flames so hot the bullets had practically melted before making it to the car. Frank climbed in through the other side, setting himself down in the passenger seat, the other three in the back. There was an uproar of cheering throughout the truck - they had all lived.

'Anyone hurt?' Brendon said with a slight chuckle after the cheer had died down. 'Was I too hot for any of you.'

'Ugh, Brenny.' Frank said with an exaggerated flustered look on his face. 'Way too hot babe.'

'Hey!' Ryan yelled, grinning. 'No sex in my truck you two, we've been over this way too many times. Besides, wouldn't want Gee getting jealous now would you Iero?' 

Frank pouted. 'You never let me have any fun, Ryan.'

Mikey smiled to himself. It was funny how everybody seemed to be the happiest after near death experiences. Maybe it was the adrenaline, the relief, he didn't know. But c'mon,  _Mikey_ was smiling. The truck continued to fill with a roar of cheering and laughter when-

'What the fuck is wrong with you?' The newcomer yelled. The truck went silent. Brendon frowned.

'What do you mean, Rian?'

'Five years. It's been five fucking years since Alex was taken. Who knows what they're doing to him in there! Jack doesn't sleep, doesn't talk, hardly eats. You know what the only thing he said when he turned 18 was? I want Alex. The same with his 20th. And his 21st. How dare you all just sit there like nothing's wrong, like that wasn't your fault!'

Brendon was silenced. Frank's smile had disappeared. So had Mikey's.

 

5 years earlier

 

'Brendon! Ryan! Um.... Others! Hi!' Rian had yelled as the door of their base was pushed aside. The tracker on Frank had been removed, also removing a toxin that had been affecting his actions - he'd hugged Mikey way too tightly after that was taken out.

'Zack arrived about half an hour ago, got bored of waiting.' He continued, laughing. Then he frowned. 'Hey, but where's Spencer and Jon? And where's-' his eyes widened in shock.

'Alex!' Another guy walked towards them through a curtain that separated the room they were in to a different one. He had a wide smiled that reached his eyes, and couldn't have been older than seventeen regardless of his tall stature. His smile faded into a frown as he noticed Alex's absence. 'A-Alex?'

'Uh, Jack, I-' Brendon started, his voice catching in his throat. 'Our base got attacked, they- there were too many and-'

'No.' Jack said, tears filling his eyes as he grabbed Brendon's shirt and pushed him to the wall. 'No! You let them take him! It's your fault! Alex-' his voice faded as he said his boyfriend's name again, letting go of Brendon and sinking against the wall. 'Alex....'

Brendon had tears running down his face, refusing to look at Jack. This wasn't him. Jack was the always happy, overly sexual guy always guaranteed to make you smile. But now Alex was gone. The most important thing in his life. Gone.

Pete looped his arm around Mikey, sensing his discomfort. Mikey hated that he'd left Jack like this, even if he didn't know the guy. Particularly because it was his fault. If his stupid ability had sensed something even a matter of seconds earlier, Alex would be here right now, Jack in his arms. Smiling. They would only have Spencer and Jon to mourn, even Ray if someone mentioned him. They could've gone back to the simplicity of the first base. But now Alex was gone, Alex with all the information the Scarecrows needed to destroy every one of them.

'It's not your fault, Mikes' Frank said in his mind. Mikey just shook his head.

Suddenly Jack stood. His face was blank. The spark in his eyes was dead. He walked into the other room without another word.

A muscular man across from them had started silently crying to himself. Rian wiped his eyes, trying to not let himself go.

'I-It's ok, Zack, we'll-we'll get him back.' He nodded to himself, determined. 'We'll get him back.'

 

5 years later.

 

'It was your fault.' Rian whispered to himself, the truck still in complete silence.

'Stop it, Rian. Please - just stop.' Frank said slowly, his voice catching in his throat. Mikey was in tears. Rian's eyes were closed and he shook his head slowly. 

'Your fault.'

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry it took so long I had a bunch of stuff that involved me not having internet access. Title taken from this one https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=khKY8ZFbvfQ


	6. I Am What You Can't Escape

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am so sorry this took so long. I just had exams and it was insane and gross and I'm sorry. I'm gonna try ridiculously hard to updates as frequently as possible since I've already got a heap written out. Also, sorry for this chapter it's..... *cries*

"They're back!" Pete yelled from outside the empty school that took the role of their home. The school had been the find of the century. Situated practically in the middle of no where, there were plenty of rooms, stable exits, sturdy security. It wasn't too big, around five or six classrooms, a main hall and a small playground. It was perfect.

Gerard breathed a sigh of relief at Pete's words. He hated these raids, despite the fact that they had occurred monthly if not weekly for the past 2 and a half years. Around 3 years ago was when the world found itself in definitive shit. Scarecrows had control over every city in the US if not the world, barricading every possible escape. People who managed to get out to the country were shot or kidnapped. The underground and the desert were the only safe places. That was the land of the rebellion. Runaway Territory. 

Gerard snapped back to reality as the truck drove through the heavy gates of the school. It still blew Gerard's mind that someone though it was necessary to build a school in the middle of the fucking desert. He grinned as Frank climbed out of the truck, who had a smirk plastered onto his face. They'd lived. Gerard would never go on one of those. They terrified him. He still had no idea why he'd let Mikey go. If something went wrong he would have lost the two most important people in his life.

"Hey, Gee!" Frank said, running into a hug, Gerard pecking him on the cheek. "I lived, see!"

"Yes you did!" Gerard said, using the mushy voice you use to talk to pets with. "Good boy! You get a treat when I find out that Mikey's ok."

'Oh god, my leg!' Mikey yelled sarcastically, pretending to limp towards them. Frank glared at him.

"Ah, sorry babe. He hurt his leg under your watch, nothing I can do."

"But, but Gee, you promised!" Frank whined in reply.

"Oh, ew, stop. I'm literally right here." Mikey said, covering his ears with his hands.

Gerard laughed and pulled Frank into a kiss, his hand loosely held around Frank's hip.

"Ugh," Mikey started, rolling his eyes. "Guys, c'mon, I-"

Suddenly he found himself being tackled to the ground, his back pinned down. "What the fu-?!" He was quickly shut up by a pair of lips pressed against his own. His eyes widened when the lips let him breathe, finally giving him the chance to see his.... 'forward' assailant.

"Hey Mikes!" Pete said from on top of him. Mikey had no idea why that hadn't been obvious to him. Pete was always known to be ever ready to make out with him when Mikey gave him the chance. Or when Mikey didn't give him the chance. So basically just always.

"Hey Pete." Mikey said with the limited breath he currently had. "Uh, babe, I kinda..... need to breathe."

"Oh, yeah," Pete said, climbing off Mikey's chest.

"Thanks." Mikey said, standing quickly, wiping of the dust that was now settled on the back of his jeans.

"You know I could've done that for you." Pete said with a smirk, Mikey's eyes widening nervously.

"Uh, I don't-" He was shut up yet again by a rough kiss, followed by a trail of rough kisses along his neck.

"Oh, yeah, Mikey, and we're the gross ones." Frank said, his hand covering Gerard's eyes. Mikey rolled his eyes, Pete still strongly attached to his neck.

"Hey guys- Oh god!" Brendon said as he made his way over, shielding his eyes from Mikey and Pete. "Get a room you two, jesus! I was just saying I was gonna drop Rian off at the Motel. Anyone coming?"

The Motel was Rian, Zack and Jack's base. It had been cleared out by Scarecrow's years ago, and had quite a few decent rooms. They'd never been allowed inside the thing, probably because of Jack's, uh, 'condition', they guessed, but apparently he'd been able to get the wi-fi working. Jack was able to manipulate technology, so it couldn't have been too hard.

"No." Pete and Gerard said in unison, glancing quickly at their boyfriend's. The drive to where they had rescued Rian had been a solid 6 hours, the execution of the rescue around that as well. They both kind've just wanted their partners home.

Brendon rolled his eyes. "Fine. Ryan!" Ryan turned his head towards Brendon from the truck, where he and Rian had been deep in..... conversation, to put it lightly. Honestly, Brendon hadn't asked Ryan in the first place because of the ridiculous fury the two held for each other. In any other scenario Ryan was always his first choice. He'd known him the longest. They had a kind of understanding of each other - a trust that could only be formed by years of each other's presence. But where Rian was involved, Ryan was the last person Brendon wanted. The two both had people they needed to protect. They were more likely to lash out when what they were protecting was threatened. Both were to the other a threat. It was better to keep them as far apart as possible from one another.

"Ryan, can you come with me to drop off that Rian?" Brendon said anyway, reluctantly. Ryan, nodded, though obviously was not overly thrilled about the idea. He climbed back into the truck after Rian, situating himself as far as possible from the other guy. 

"Uh, Ry, why don't you drive. I'll sit with Rian." Brendon said, having walked over to the truck by now.

"Yeah, good idea." Ryan said through clenched teeth, climbing into the driver's seat.

Brendon nodded, sitting himself next to Rian in the back. "So, Rian-"

"Sit in the front." Rian said coldly.

"Wha-"

"Don't come anywhere fucking near me. It's your fault Alex is gone and no amount of smiling and small talk is going to change that."

Ryan's fists clenched around the steering wheel. The smile that had been plastered on Brendon's face dropped, and he got out of the truck to sit in the passenger's seat. This was going to be a long drive.

 

***************

 

"Knock knock!" Frank said, sticking his head into the school's art room. To Gerard's delight there had been a large storage closet filled with unopened cans of paint, pencils and pens, brushes and a bunch of other stuff Frank couldn't even name. There had even been a few bottles of hair dye, which Gerard had immediately used a red bottle of to drench every hair on his head. He'd then promptly handed Frank a pair of scissors and gotten him to cut it. Surprisingly, it had turned out looking pretty great. Frank had no idea how, however, having not ever touched scissors before without something going horrifically wrong. Gerard stood in the art room now, his hair still the vibrant red colour, painting on a large sheet of paper hanging across the wall. He hadn't responded to Frank yet. Then again, he rarely did when he was painting. It was hypnotic, watching his brush move across the paper, for everyone including himself.

"Gerard!" Frank yelled, this time making Gerard jump and drop his brush. An annoyed look came onto his face. 

"Fuck you, Frank, if that had stuffed up my painting I swear to god I would've-"

"Would've what?" Frank said raising an eyebrow.

"I would've refused to have sex with you for two months." Gerard retorted. Frank's eyes widened, and he stuck out his bottom lip.

"Gee, no, I promise it won't happen again, please give me a chance to redeem myself."

Gerard rolled his eyes, grabbing Frank's waist and pulling him into a soft kiss. Frank smiled when they broke apart.

"I really love you, Gee." He said softly.

"I love you too, Frankie." Gerard said, pulling the smaller man into a hug. They remained that way for a couple seconds until he felt hands around his neck. "Frank?" He spluttered. The hands got tighter and tighter, blocking off his breathing. Frank's hands.

"You don't deserve to be alive!" Frank screamed. Gerard was in a state of shock. Not again. He thought this was over. He clawed at Frank's fingers, trying to let himself breathe. He managed to slacken Frank's grip slightly, taking the new air as an opportunity to scream for help. This simply resulted in him being punched in the face, falling back onto the floor.

"Frank, p-please stop. Please." He pleaded, tears in his eyes. He was finally able to get a good look at Frank. His eyes were glazed over, a wide, maniacal grin on his face.

"You deserve to die." Frank said, cruelly.

"Please-" Gerard said as his boyfriend advanced towards him, ready to strike again.

Suddenly, the door burst open, Pete sprinting in to tackle Frank to the ground, pinning him down using soil from one of the dead pot plants situated on the window sill. Mikey followed, running to Gerard, helping him to his feet. His glasses were crooked and his shirt ruffled, and Gerard couldn't help but wonder what the two had been doing.

"Frank, stop!" Pete yelled from across the room, Frank squirming beneath him, trying to break through the soil that fastened him to the ground. 

"What happened?" Mikey said softly to his brother.

"I don't know, I- we hugged and then he-"

Mikey nodded.

"I don't understand. I thought Brendon removed the toxin."

"He said there might be some still hanging onto the bloodstream, though not enough to fully control him. What I don't get is why he lashed out now. It's been years since that was removed. Why now?"

"Unless they've multiplied!" Pete said. This silenced everyone. Gerard closed his eyes. He could still remember the first time this had happened like it was yesterday. He couldn't deal with that shit again. The silence was broken by a sound similar to a snarl coming from Frank, who was still firmly held in place.

"Gerard, sweet heart, won't you get me out of this stuff? Come on, darling, don't you love me?"

Gerard shivered at the words. They sounded so wrong coming from Frank. His voice had an edge to it that was cruel and malicious and evil and Gerard hated it so much.

"C'mon, baby, you can trust me."

"Stop talking, Iero." Pete said, blocking Gerard from Frank's view..

"It felt good in my arms just now, didn't it Gerard? You missed me so much, didn't you? I could so easily have died out there, they use me as a distraction, y'know, as bait. I had eight people shooting at me while I ran right in front of them."

"Pete?" Gerard said, his voice shaking.

"I said stop talking, Iero."

"I'll promise you this Gerard, I'll never go out on one of those again. I'll stay here and paint with you, you make really great painting, don't you Gerard? But only if you get this off me now- uh, only if you get- get, uh- Gerard, help I- Gerard!" Frank's voice had changed, his face contorted with pain. "Gerard, help me, I can't- I can't fight it!"

"Frankie, what's going on?" Gerard said, rushing to his side regardless of Mikey's protests.

"They- the toxin it's like- it's taking over again. Please, please get away from me, stop it! It comes in waves, it'll be over soon, I just- I'm so sorry, Gee, I- I'm so-" he stopped suddenly, his eyes glazing over again, a maniacal grin coming onto his face. "Oh, ignore him, baby. I'm here to stay."

"Pete! Take him as far away as possible!" Mikey yelled. "Middle of the desert if you have to!" He grabbed Gerard by the arm, holding him back. "Just get him as far away from my brother as possible!"

Pete nodded, the soil carrying Frank across the floor behind him.

"You can't keep me away from you for long, Gerard! I'll kill you one day! And sweet little Frankie won't be able to save you when I do!"

"Shut  **up** , Iero!" Pete yelled, soil moving up to cover his mouth.

Gerard could hardly breathe.

"Wha- what did I do? What did I-"

"Gee, nothing. He's possessed by that thing, whatever it is. It's not Frank, ok?"

"I-" Gerard wanted to collapse. Then he did collapse, Mikey barely catching his significantly heavier older brother before his head smashed into a nearby table. Mikey managed to gently lower him to the ground, and decided to cover him in an art smock for, uh, warmth he guessed? Fuck. Everything had been going so well, too...... but if there was one thing Mikey had learnt from the world's merciless destruction it was that Scarecrows always managed to take it all away. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Song title taken from this one https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=86uZuVOWaZk


	7. Take My Fragile Heart

"So, uh," Brendon said from the wheel in an attempt to cut through the awkward, borderline murderous silence that filled the truck. "How are things?"

"Quite good, actually!" Ryan replied in mock enthusiasm. "Well at least they were until this dick threw a wet blanket on top of everything."

"If Alex was home right now, I'd be perfectly happy to join you ass holes in singing around the campfire. But he's not so-"

"Shut UP, Dawson!" Ryan cut him off. And the silence returned, Brendon sighing quietly.

This remained for about two and a half hours, Brendon's occasional humming consistently followed by Ryan and Rian screaming profanities at him.

"Ok, we're here now. Rian, I don't mean to be rude, but get the fuck out of my truck."

Rian glanced at the two then exited the truck, slamming the door behind him. He hated how Alex had been taken like that. He'd been seventeen at the time for god's sake. He could look completely different by now for all they knew. He could be d- no. Fuck that. They were going to see him again. Jack was going to see him again. 

He shoved his hands in the pockets of his jeans and lowered his gaze as he walked towards the motel they called home. He quickly put his arm up to shield his eyes from the thick sheet of dust that surrounded the place's perimeter, making it practically invisible. He kept walking until the front door was an inch from his nose. Living like this was safe sure, but isolating, ostracising even. He could hardly tell whether it was day or night from inside there anymore. But they didn't have a choice. They needed Jack to be kept safe, hidden from the Scarecrows. They couldn't afford to fight like Brendon and Ryan did. The had to keep Jack, an especially powerful Wolf, out of the Scarecrows' hands. And they had to keep Jack inside. 

He knocked once to have the door immediately opened by Zack, the relief on his face quickly turning to rage. 

"Rian, you idiot! You could've been killed, Jack saw the transmission saying they'd caught you. He was freaking out, Rian, you can't put him under pressure like that!" Zack lowered his voice slightly, glancing over his shoulder. "And we can't risk him seeing the others again. Not when he's the way he is."

"Can I see him?"

Zack sighed, the rage lifting to reveal the worried expression he'd had engraved on his face for the last four years. "Yeah, he's in his room. Not that he ever leaves."

Rian nodded solemnly, passing Zack to make his way down a hallway to the room furthest from the front door. It was darker than any of the others, Jack having blacked out the windows. The only light in the whole room was from the computers he had stacked across the various desks he'd dragged in. Some showed surveillance footage, shots of Scarecrows lining up civilians, prisoners sleeping in cells, a Scarecrow aiming a gun at some screaming woman's head and-

Rian swallowed hard, looking away. Jack was furiously typing code into the computer directly in front of him which appeared to be spewing data into the computer next to it. The whole thing made Rian's head spin, but Jack - well you could say Jack was born with it. 

"Hey, Jack." Rian said.

"You did it again." Jack replied, coldly. 

"Jack, I-"

"You lied to me. You said once I found out exactly where Alex is we were gonna get him together. No earlier than that. You've left seven times now. You lied to me."

"Jack, I can't just sit here! You're wasting away to nothing! The quicker I get Alex the quicker you go outside again, you starting eating again without us having to force food down your throat!"

"You're not getting him."

"Wha-"

"You're not allowed. I'm getting my boyfriend back. If you leave again I'll kill you."

Rian paused and decided not to speak. Jack's tone was dead serious. He hadn't looked at Rian once. "I'll see you at dinner, Jack."

Jack said nothing. Rian got up to leave when the screen two down from Jack flickered. Rian was sure this was normal, but Jack's back shot up completely straight. It flickered again three times until an image of a tall, brown haired guy came on to the screen. His hair was cut shorter and cleaner, and he was thinner but there was no mistaking who it was.

"Jack, it's-" Rian whispered. Tears fell down Jack's cheek, and he nodded, touching the screen. Five years.

"Alex."

 

****

 

Zack had rushed into the room at Rian's call. Alex appeared to be talking to someone. No struggle, just.... talking. Then the person left and he- he looked straight at them. He waved, a malicious smile on his face. He made a gun with his fingers, pointed it at the camera and shot. The screen went black.

"Lexy?" Jack murmured. He looked.... terrified. 

"Hey guys!" Alex had appeared on every computer screen, the malicious grin still present. "How have you all been? Pretty horrible without me I hope. Anyhow, formalities aside, the Scarecrows want something you have. Do you know what that is Zack and Rian?" He paused as if awaiting an answer they were too horrified to give. "Why my own little Jacky of course!"

Rian slammed his fist down on the desk closest to him, tears stinging his eyes. This wasn't fair.

"Aw, don't be upset baby." Alex continued, winking at assumably Jack. "They won't hurt you too much. I mean, Spencer's still technically alive, you guys remember him? He just can't exactly..... speak. Or think freely. All you guys have to do is tell us the exact location of Brendon Urie, Mikey Way, Pete Wentz and Frank Iero as well as giving over Jack. Imagine it Jack, we'll be together again! That or I just kill Zack and Rian. It's your choice. You have three days. Jack can tell me, I'm sure he'll be capable with all that naughty hacking he's been doing. Love you guys, can't wait to see you again darling!"

And the screen went dead. Zack collapsed into tears, screaming 'What did they do to him?' among sobs. Jack was frozen. "Alex," he muttered again. Then before Zack or Rian could say another word he sprinted out of the room.

"Fuck!" Rian yelled, sprinting after him. "Jack! Jack, stop!"

Jack squinted against the bright lights of the motel. It had been so long since he'd been out of that room. He ignored Rian's yelling and pulled the door open. He was going to see Alex again. He didn't care what the cost was. He was about to walk out when a wave of heat blew him back. He rubbed his eyes, ready to run when strong hands grabbed him from behind.

"Stop it, Jack." Rian said softly behind him. Jack went slack in his arms, collapsing to the ground. 

"I need to see him, Rian!" He said, tears beginning to slip down his face. "I want him back!"

"We will see him. But not when he's like that. Not like this. We know where he is now. You take recordings of all the surveillance, right?"

"Of course." Jack sniffed.

"Well you could use that to pinpoint his location. And then we'll all go and get him. Together."

Jack nodded and shuffled back to his room slowly. Rian hated himself for sending him back there. But they didn't have a choice. They needed Alex back. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm so sorry for how late this was. There's literally no excuse. I'll try and upload two chapters today. Also PTV come in next chapter, and CTE soon after :) Chapter title from this one https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=86uZuVOWaZk


	8. Say Your Goodbyes

****2 years ago****

Vic Fuentes smiled as the last Scarecrow fell off his sword. He currently had four bodies lying around him, all with large fatal stab wounds in their chests. So, overall, not a bad day. 

"I'll take that." He said grabbing the large bag of money at the last guy's belt. It was heavy, probably a lot of gold. They would've needed it for rent, but Vic had threatened (technically there was some torture involved but the details aren't important) the landlord enough for them to live there for free. He'd spend the money later at the markets. 

The place he lived was in one of the dirtiest, most dangerous placed in Aeon. But he loved it. He could never leave the place. Everyone was either sleazy or terrified, meaning he could wrap all of them around his finger. He was a wanted criminal, sure, but he always just stabbed the guys that went after him.

The walk home was short - he never went to far. Jaime would get worried. Jaime had become accustomed to his, uh, 'hobbies', but that didn't necessarily mean he completely approved of them. The guy was a certified medic, for god's sake. He made flower crowns. He took in stray cats. They were polar opposites. But they loved each other regardless. 

He knocked on the door when he reached it, expecting Jaime's quick reply, usually followed by a wave of hugs, kisses and medicinal care he didn't need. But there was no reply. He must be sleeping. Vic picked the lock quickly, figuring that would've been easier than trying to find a key. 

"Jaime, I'm home!" Vic yelled as he walked in. But instead of finding his sleepy boyfriend bundled up in blankets, he saw the most terrifying thing he'd ever seen.

A Scarecrow had a knife at Jaime's throat, Jaime almost in tears. He had a black eye and blood gushing out of several wounds.

"Vic, run!" He yelled, then yelped as the knife was dug deeper into his throat.

"Shut up!" yelled the Scarecrow, who now glared at Vic through the large mask on his face. "You got two choices here, Fuentes. Come with me to Aeon City Central or I kill this one."

Vic closed his eyes and put his arms out in front of him. Jaime couldn't die. He wasn't going to let that happen. Two other Scarecrows locked him in handcuffs and dragged him towards the front door. But they hadn't let go of Jaime. 

"Wait, let him go!" A Scarecrow behind him laughed.

"No, I don't think we will."

"You fucking lied to me!"

"Never said I'd let him go." He scoffed, cuffing Jaime as well and throwing both into the back of the truck they'd arrived in. Jaime was crying now, and Vic wrapped his arms around the bigger guy as well as he could with his hands cuffed. He kissed his forehead and Jaime cuddled into him.

"It's gonna be ok." Vic whispered, trying desperately hard not to strangle Jaime as the truck jolted over the rocky, unstable road. The back was basically just a dark empty space with no windows or seatbelts.

"I'm so sorry, Vic." Jaime sobbed in reply. "I should have tried to fight back, but he-"

"Sssh," Vic said, holding Jaime tighter, kissing his temple. "I would never have expected you to fight. I know how much you hate hurting people."

They stayed like that for hours until they fell asleep, the drive from the dump they lived in to ACC being at least 12 hours of solid driving. 

They were awoken by being thrown against the back wall of the truck, the truck stopping abruptly. The door was opened, bright light flooding in from the outside.

"Get up, faggots!" A Scarecrow barked at them, making Vic snarl and lash his bound arms out at him. This backfired, however, a long metal rod locking onto the cuffs, holding him in place. Jaime was dragged out behind him, his arms bound in the same way. 

"If you hurt him-" Vic threatened, but he was punched square in the jaw, silencing him, unable to fight back. 

"You got no power here, Fuentes. What we do with him is our decision and ours alone."

"He's pretty, ain't he guys?" One said, who was getting way too close to Jaime for Vic's liking. "I can see why you like him." He put a finger underneath Jaime's chin, who backed away as much as he could, his eyes wide in fear.

The Scarecrows laughed at his fear and the one holding Jaime in place yanked at the rod, causing him to stumble forward. This ignited more laughter as they continued to lead him reluctantly away from Vic. 

"Where are you taking him?!" Vic yelled. The Scarecrow holding Vic scoffed. 

"Far away from you, for one. Did you really think we were gonna let you anywhere near him? Nah, we said we wouldn't  _kill_ him. We didn't promise anything else."

Vic growled again, pulling as hard as he could at the rod but nothing changed. 

"Here's what's gonna happen, Fuentes. We're gonna take you to a room. In the room you're gonna get some instructions. Then you're gonna follow those instructions. If you don't? Well, I'll save that bit for later."

He dragged Vic towards a large white building that was so clean it made Vic uncomfortable - Aeon City Central. He was dragged inside the thing - everything was so ridiculously clean how the hell is this fucking natural - until they reached the second floor after ascending a couple staircases. Then he was stopped. 

"In a couple seconds that door's gonna open. Then you're gonna not say a word and fucking listen. Got it?"

Vic glared at him then nodded. From what it sounded like, he was gonna be out soon. No point in struggling or giving them a chance to break his nose.

The door opened and the Scarecrow jammed the rod into a longer bar, Vic being thrust into the room, his feet suddenly bound to a disc on the floor. He was then moved across the floor, finding himself facing a large glass wall, darkness behind it.

The lights suddenly flickered on, a woman with greying hair and no mask standing among a group of Scarecrows. She smiled as she saw Vic, though it looked cold, rehearsed. 

"Victor Fuentes. 9th sector. Partner, Jaime Preciado. Parents, unknown. Siblings, Michael Fuentes. We've been watching you." She spoke in a cold monotone, as if she was speaking a heavily rehearsed script. 

"You're work for us is simple and will be accomplished. You know of the rebel group the Runaways?"

Vic nodded slowly. The Runaways were a group of seven. They were the only resistance that ever showed its face within Aeon. They were a little justice-y for Vic's liking, but he had to appreciate the skull bandanas and the impressive weaponry, including a particularly bad ass bat.

"They are the singular significant group that continue to effectively rebel against what the Raven knows the world requires. They also harbour an incredibly powerful Wold. Your instructions are simple. Join them. Gain their trust enough to take the Wolf hostage. Then kill every one of them."

Vic's eyes widened. "I-I can't, why would I-"

"If you choose to resist..." she trailed off, instead gesturing to three Scarecrows that were dragging a struggling Jaime into the room. One had a knife.

"No!" Vic yelled, the Scarecrow cutting a clean line across Jaime's cheek, Jaime whimpering in pain.

"This was a simple preview, Mr. Fuentes." The woman said, her eyes fiery and cruel. "Resist too much and we start sending you his fingers in a box."

Vic blinked back tears. Jaime was the only thing that mattered. He nodded slowly. 

"Ok. I'll do it/"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yay more characters to emotionally traumatise....... Dammit. Chapter title from this one https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DX779UNNoe8


	9. Hope Drains From Your Veins

"Mikey?"

Mikey jumped at the sudden shout from the radio next to his bed. He should have been used to Rian's random attempts at contacting him by now, but 4 in the morning?? Really Dawson?

"What do want, Rian?" Mikey grumbled, tiredly.

"They know our location."

Mikey's eyes snapped open, alert and awake.

"Do they-?"

"No, just us. And they know about Jack."

"How can we help?"

"We don't have a choice now, they're planning to kill Zack and I and take Jack in too and a half days. We have to leave."

"Y-you don't mean-"

"Mikey, we have to attack Aeon. We don't have a choice. With you, Pete, Frank, Brendon and Jack combined we could be undefeatable."

"Frank's- and Jack wouldn't-"

"Mikey we know where Alex is."

Mikey stopped. Holy shit.

"We'll leave at midday, meet you on the way."

 

*********

 

Five hours later they were all preparing, even Gerard. Frank had returned to his proper self, but everyone was hesitant to take him with them.

"Please, I have to help!" Frank had begged when they had brought up the idea of him staying. 

"F-Frankie, you-" Gerard had said, attempting to calm him. 

"No, wait, Mikey! You could tell when it was gonna happen before it did!"

"Uh, my visions are extremely random and varied."

"But what if we made, like, a psychic connection or something? I mean, two psychic abilities, I'm sure it wouldn't be hard."

"Uh, I guess.... I could try." Mikey hesitantly put his hands on Frank's temples. "Ok, focus on the state you're in when you.... y'know. And let your mind let my ability in, don't fight it."

Frank closed his eyes and frowned, concentrating. So did Mikey. They stayed like that for about five minutes until Mikey let go, panting. Frank was unfazed, however - he almost looked stronger. Mikey looked pale.

"I-I can only see as far as 48 hours ahead like..... like this, but nothing's coming within the time frame. If something is coming, I'll see it first."

Frank sighed in relief, pulling Mikey into a tight, awkward hug. "Thank you, Mikey. It means a lot."

"Don't worry about it." Mikey, said his voice slurring. Frank frowned, pulling out of the hug. This was a mistake, however, as just as he did Mikey began to collapse. If Pete hadn't made the ground catch him it could've ended a lot worse. 

"Mikey!" Pete and Gerard yelled in unison, Pete rushing to his side. 

"Mikey, what happened?" Pete said, glaring at Frank.

"I-I don't know, I don't think I'm supposed to concentrate that much energy on one person. If I'd gone further than 48 hours I don't know what would've happened....." his head slumped back as he finally blacked out. 

"I'm gonna get him conscious, but we still leave at 12." Pete said, Gerard rushing over to support Mikey on his and Pete's shoulders, the two carrying him out of the heat of the glaring desert sun.

Frank was in shock. Because he hadn't screwed up basically everything already. Gerard had barely talked to him out of fear. Pete had always been cold towards him. After the fiasco with Gerard he was pretty sure even Brendon and Ryan were nervous around him. Mikey seemed to be the only one who wasn't shunning him, but now he'd almost been killed and it was all Frank's fault. 

"Frank-" Brendon started. 

"What?! You gonna call me out and tell me how horrible I am, cos I know everyone's thinking it! Or are you gonna ignore me for a bit longer? My boyfriend won't even talk to me, Brendon! And I have seen his mind, I know how damn scared he is. You think I wanted this to happen? No, I'd rather be dead than have to live with that thing anymore...." his sentence trailed off and he glanced at one of the shotguns leaning against the truck.

Ryan's eyes widened and he hurriedly stood between Frank's view of the gun.

"Frank. It isn't worth it."

"I just want everyone to be safe-"

"Gerard's gonna be a lot safer - a lot  _happier_ \- with you here, ok? If you die, that's one less Wolf to protect him, got it Frank?"

Frank looked at the ground, resulting in Ryan forcefully grabbing shoulders so the two of them had complete eye contact. 

"Got it, Frank??"

"Yes, I get it!"

"Good. Now help me load the rest of the weapons onto the truck, you too Brendon."

Brendon nodded, keeping a cautious eye on Frank, which really only made him want to reach for the gun more. 

Then Brendon spoke. 

"Frank, we care about you, ok?" Frank raised an eyebrow. It had never occurred to him that the nervousness the two had developed around him was out of concern rather than caution. 

"O-ok. Thanks." Frank mumbled. "Thanks."

"It's alright." Brendon replied, smiling widely.

"Thanks." He said again, almost too quietly for Brendon to hear. Almost. 

Brendon smiled sadly.

"I mean it."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> :(..... Sorry this one was short, I thought the scene deserved it's own chapter. CTE comes in about 2 chapters. Chapter title comes from this one https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MW3dygKxksQ


	10. We Must Resist This

"Ok, Mikey's feeling better, we leave in five." Pete yelled, rushing out to the three who were packing the last of the things into the truck.

"Look, Pete, I'm so sorry-" Frank started.

"I know, Frank. You didn't know. Mikey understands as well and he made me promise not to give you any shit."

"Thank you." Frank said, sighing in relief.

"Uh, don't mention it. Now why the hell isn't everyone in the truck?!"

"Uh, Pete, quick query over here." Ryan stated sarcastically. "How the fuck do you intend to fit six people plus three extra people who don't like us into a five seat truck."

"Me, Frank and Brendon can sit in the open section at the back-"

"Because that's not dangerous."

"And Zack can join us after. That leaves you driving, Gerard with Mikey behind you and either Jack or Rian in shotgun, depending on whether Rian can get his head out of his ass for long enough to maintain Jack's wellbeing."

"We'll have to see how it works out." Mikey chimed in from behind them. "I'm sure either will be fine sitting with me, I know I'm the only one Rian likes."

Brendon glared, flipping him off, but Mikey found himself tackled by Frank before he could reply, the smaller guy pulling him into an apologetic hug that still, to Mikey's surprise, managed to remain gentle enough that he didn't want to pass out again.

"I'm so sorry, Mikey, I didn't mean-"

"Frank, I know! I don't blame you at all, you-"

Mikey stopped, suddenly hit with a vision. He gasped out of pure terror, pulling away from Frank quickly. 

"Mikes, what's up?" Frank said, frowning.

"Mikey." Pete said, rushing to his side. "What did you see?"

"N-nothing, it wasn't, it wasn't clear." Mikey lied. It was clear as day, etched into his brain. He looked at Frank suddenly.

"Frankie, please don't look."

"Wha-"

"Don't look!" Frank nodded quickly, shocked. Frank had never seen him this stressed out about a vision before, and the guy had seen the apocalypse.

"Uh, w-what are we still doing here anyway?? We-we should drive." Mikey continued stumbling towards the truck and climbing in. Everyone was frozen.

"Well?!" He yelled, making them jump into movement, Ryan hastily climbing into the drivers seat, Gerard following Mikey to his seat. He hesitated at the door however, turning to quickly run to Frank.

"Gerard?" Frank said, confused by the sudden attention he was receiving from his boyfriend. His eyes then widened as Gerard kissed him.

"I'm so sorry, Frankie." Gerard said, letting Frank go. "I was scared, and-"

"It's fine, Gee." 

"I love you, Frank."

"I love you too, Gee."

Gerard nodded before rushing into the truck, Frank climbing onto the back followed by Brendon and Pete.

"Was the really necessary?" Brendon smirked.

"Talk to me when your boyfriend ignores you for a solid week, Urie."

"Hey, at least your love is requited."

"What?" Pete said enthusiastically. "Now, does Brenny have a crush?"

"Fuck off, Wentz."

"It's Ryan, isn't it?" Pete said. 

"What, no, why would it-"

"It is." Frank confirmed. "There's a whole section of his mind dedicated to him."

"I knew it!"

"Fuck you, Iero. Besides he thinks I'm a hyperactive child."

"Opinions change, Bren." Frank said. "He's had five to reassess."

"Ugh, can we please drop this?" Brendon said, flustered.

"We've got a three day ride by truck together, Brenny." Pete said, wiggling his eyebrows. "There's no way in hell I'm dropping it."

"Wentz, I swear to god, you bring it up again I will melt your face off."

Frank threw his head back laughing. It hit him how thankful he was for Brendon Urie, and how the strong the guy was after seeing so much shit. He'd had so much taken away, and so much blame thrown on him.

"I'll get it out of you eventually." Pete shrugged, laughing.

"Ok, you three good back there?" Ryan yelled from the front window. 

"Yeah, we're good, Ryan!" Pete yelled back. "Especially Brendon, he's really-"

"Just drive, Ryan!" Brendon cut him off, glaring at Pete, receiving another round of laughter from Frank and Pete.

'You ok, Gee?' Frank thought to Gerard.

'Yeah, I'm fine. So's Mikey. I know you don't want to look, Frankie, but he really does forgive you.'

Frank smiled to himself. 'Thanks Gee.' He redirected his thoughts to Mikey.

'Hey Mikey, you all good?'

'Yeah, I'm right. Hey, kiss Pete for me?'

Frank laughed loudly, making Brendon and Pete glance at him, confused.

'I'm good, Mikes.'

"I was just talking to Mikey for you, Pete, he's feeling better."

"Thank god. Why'd you laugh?"

"Uh, don't worry about it." The truck had made a fair amount of distance by now, and the wind flapped through their clothing. Brendon was sending small bursts of fire into the air, which was pushed back into a sort of cloud of smoke and fire by the wind before disappearing.

"Pete?"

"Yes, Brendon?"

"How much longer it there?"

Frank and Pete groaned in unison. This was going to be a long trip.

 

*****

 

Over an hour had passed now, and Brendon and Pete were in the middle of a heated game of charades. Frank had attempted contacting Gerard and Mikey but Gerard was sending too many stress waves for him to break through, and Mikey appeared to be asleep. So he tried Ryan.

'Hey, Ryan.'

The truck swerved slightly, Brendon knocking into one of the short railings that kept them on the truck whilst continuing to do a failing impression of Green Day.

'Fuck, Frank! Don't do that to me!' Ryan thought loudly.

'Uh, sorry. But what's the progress report? And what's up with Gerard?'

'Oh, Gerard's fine, just trying to figure out the answer to a riddle I threw at him. It's pretty funny, actually, I've never seen a guy that focused and agitated over a riddle. Mikey's asleep. Oh, and we got about half an hour 'til we get to Rian's, it's all- wait, what the fuck?'

'Ryan? What's up?'

'There's...... shit!'

A large bang followed by a cloud of smoke and dust surrounded the truck, making it impossible to see.

Frank coughed through the dust. "Brendon, try to give us some- some light!" He said, spluttering.

"I'm trying, it keeps smothering the flames."

"Pete, can you control the dust?"

"It's too small I can't concentrate it that much!"

"We have to-"

Suddenly a face was in front of Frank, the stranger's nose barely an inch from Frank's.

"You don't have to do anything."

"Wha-" and he was knocked out, everything going black.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> CTE comes in next :). Chapter title from this one https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BY17Rg0ppKw


	11. Brighter Paths

Frank woke up on the floor of a dark room, his ears ringing.

"Gerard!" He whispered sharply, a guy lying a little bit away from him sitting up quickly. 

"Frankie?" Frank shuffled towards him, grabbing his hand. "Frankie, what happened?"

"I don't know, I-" a door at the end of the room opened. The room flooded with light, the others regaining consciousness one by one - but Frank only counted four.

"Where the fuck are we?!" Frank yelled. "Who are you? Where are Pete and Brendon?"

"Woah, woah, woah." The guy at the door said, putting his hands up in peace. He had a bandana with half a skull painted on it in white covering half of his face. "Chill, man, your friends are fine. I'll explain it all later, we're not here to hurt you, here-" He pulled down the bandana, smiling at them. "I'm Brent, most call me Taddie. Once you're adjusted to the light you can go up and meet the others."

"We'll go now." Frank said coldly. "Right, guys?"

"Frank, give Mikey a sec." Gerard said calmly. Frank blinked, nodding quickly as Gerard cautiously helped Mikey to his feet.

"Where are the others?" Mikey said to the guy at the door, his voice weak.

"They're just upstairs. We had to make sure they weren't at risk of accidentally damaging anything."

Mikey nodded in understanding, noticing the flammable quality of the room's wooden build.

"Okay, just follow me up, I wouldn't recommend rushing ahead, there are a couple people up there who are kind of uh... sensitive."

They nodded, following Brent up a wooden staircase until they reached a door that he pushed aside. "Just stay here for a minute." Brent said softly as he rushed into the room.

Frank glared at the door, his rage distilling slightly at Gerard's gentle hand on his shoulder. "Calm down, Frankie."

"I'll try. Thank you, Gee."

Brent's head popped out from behind the door, smirking. "You can come in now. Just... don't freak out or anything, like I said we've got a few people that can't deal with it that well."

Frank was the first to walk in, despite Gerard's protests.

"So, these are the newcomers." There were five other people in the room, about half with bandanas covering their mouths. The question had come from a muscular guy who couldn't have been too much taller than Frank, really. He had a large smile on his face and moved forward to shake Frank's hand, Frank obliging hesitantly. "Hey, I'm Dave."

"Frank. This is Ryan, Mikey and my boyfriend Gerard." He briefly skimmed through the minds at the statement. No one seemed fazed. 

"Great, this is Andy-"

"Hey!" said a dark haired Mexican guy that looked younger than most of the others, a mole sitting above his upper lip, his mouth in a wide smile. "Nice to meet you all!" He gestured to another dark haired guy beside him. "That's Benn. And that's-"

"Hayden." said a guy further back into the room, his voice muffled by the bandana covering his mouth, though it was obvious he wasn't smiling. An awkward silence followed his blunt introduction.

Frank was left speechless by the last introduction, but that didn't stop him from noticing another guy with a bandana that Hayden appeared to be hiding from view. 

"Who's that?' Frank said, his eyes directing a challenge to Hayden, who glared in return. There was a moment of silence, so Frank rolled his eyes and tried to break into the guy's mind.

The stranger's eyes widened, and suddenly Frank's head was filled with high pitched screaming, making him yell out and back into the wall behind him. 

"Frank, what's wrong?" Gerard said, grabbing his arm to attempt to comfort him. He shook his head, grabbing at his ears.

The guy looked panicked, looking up desperately at Hayden who quickly grabbed his hand to calm him down. The screaming died down in Frank's ears and he grabbed onto the wall for support.

"That's Brandon." Dave said, his expression going cold. He turned to Brent, his eyes narrowed. "Taddie, you said there were only two Wolves."

"I said I only saw two Wolves. I can't exactly spot them on sight like that freak the Scarecrows have. There were two using abilities so I noticed them."

"Wait, what the fuck just happened?!" Ryan yelled, speaking up for the first time. "What's wrong with Frank?!"

"Frank is a nosey, inconsiderate piece of-"

'Hayden, stop.' The voice echoed in all of their ears, though no one had spoken. 'They're allowed to know.'

Hayden looked at Brandon sternly, who just shook his head and faced the newcomers, though too hesitant to come forward.

'As you can probably tell I'm a Wolf. I'm sorry about before, Frank, but I freak out whenever someone tries to break in, I-' he paused for a second, closing his eyes and taking a deep breath. 'See, the Scarecrows have been after me for a long time now and once they- they-' Brandon's breath had become short, and the voice in their minds had been overrun with static, as if his panic disrupted the flow of thoughts.

"Brandon, you don't have to-"

"N-" Brandon to speak out loud but something stopped him, making him look like he wanted to throw up. He gave Hayden a look then turned back to the others.

'They took away my ability to speak. See, they believe that having power and a voice gives us too many, uh, privileges. I haven't been able to say a word since they finished with me.'

"Shit," Frank whispered, Gerard grabbing his hand nervously.

'That's not it, either. Once they took away my speech I got out thanks to Bo- these guys. But they took the others to a place of higher security.'

Mikey shivered beside him, worry for Pete and himself radiating towards Frank.

"Thank you, Brandon. I-"

Suddenly, the door burst open behind them. causing the four to jump out of the way, Benn and Andy standing in front of Gerard, Frank and Mikey while Dave pulled Ryan slightly to the side out of instinct. 

"What the fuck is going on here?!" A short, long haired guy said, walking into the room with a shotgun in his hands. Andy seemed to relax slightly, but Benn, Dave and Brent remained tense. Hayden's eyes widened and he pulled Brandon further back into the room, who was shaking. 

"Uh, Vic." Dave said, Brent taking his place in standing with Ryan who, honestly, appreciated the protection. "What're you doing back?" 

"Why does that matter? Why are there four people I've never met in my house-"

"It's not your fucking house, Fuentes, it never was and sure as hell isn't going to be." Hayden snarled. 

"Fuck off, Tree!" Vic snapped in reply. He turned back to Dave. "Who are they?!" 

Frank squeezed Gerard's hand and focused on VIc. His mind had almost slipped into Vic's when Brandon's voice started yelling in his mind.

'Frank, stop! You think I haven't tried that? Scarecrows have managed to do something to his mind to block us out, I could hardly move for a week after trying to break through. He's got some of the others convinced he's on their side, but I know he's not. I've only been able to tell Hayden, he won't let me get to the others. He's gonna take us in, and-"

'Woah, Brandon, calm down.' Frank replied in the same way. 'I'll help you get the message across eventually. Just make sure Vic doesn't find out I can do the same as you.'

'Got it.'

"Uh, it's the guys you and Taddie saw, before you went for supplies, remember?" Dave had answered.

"Then why aren't we dead?"

Dave frowned at Vic. It had never been their intention to kill anyone, not ever. But that seemed to be all Vic wanted. "Because we don't kill innocent people." Dave said slowly, glaring. "Plus th-" He stopped momentarily, alert. "Uh, plus two of them are Wolves. They could be useful."

"Whatever." Vic grunted. "What're they called?"

"The guy with Taddie is Ryan. The other three are Mikey, Frank and Gerard."

Vic glanced at Gerard's hand in Frank's and Frank stiffened. But Vic's expression softened to his surprise. He frowned in confusion at Vic, but the guy shook his head quickly, looking away. Now that Frank had a clear view of him, he noticed that Vic was shorter than him- he could've been easy to overpower, especially for Brendon or Pete, but his muscular arms made Frank reconsider. 

"Which ones are the Wolves?"

"Not here. They're upstairs tied up so they wouldn't destroy anything if they freaked out when the woke." Benn explained. 

"And no, we aren't leaving them like that." Hayden said, glaring.

Suddenly the roof shook above them.

Mikey's eyes widened.

"Pete."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yay a chapter that wasn't emotionally traumatising. Chapter title from this one https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=khKY8ZFbvfQ


	12. Send Me Home

"Pete." Mikey gasped, glancing at the roof.

"We'll go get 'em, c'mon Taddie." Benn said, patting Mikey on the back which resulted in him flinching. Ryan was left unguarded, so he awkwardly shuffled towards the others, swallowing hard. At first Frank thought the nervous vibes his mind was giving off were for his own safety, but on closer inspection they seemed to be solely out of concern for..... Frank smiled to himself, smugly. 

The roof shook more violently above them, Gerard gripping tightly onto Frank's hand. The whole experience was stressing him out like crazy.

"It's alright, Gee, we're gonna get out of here soon." Frank said, his voice low. "We just have to find out what they want."

There was yelling from above and Vic and Andy both surged forward, though their intentions differed extremely. Dave and Hayden stepped forward to block them off, Dave glancing apologetically at Andy, Vic receiving a hard glare from Hayden. Frank's immediate concern was for Brandon, however, who had been left completely open and looked like a cornered animal. 

"Uh, Hayden-" Frank started, but was interrupted when Benn ran down the stairs with his shirt on fire screaming "Help, this is my shirt!", promptly followed by Pete and Brent shitting themselves and Brendon blushing.

"He's, he... HA!" Brent tried to say whilst catching his breath. "He's my new favourite, holy SHIT!" He slapped Brendon's arm, gasping for air, Pete wiping tears of laughter out of his eyes. Then Pete noticed Mikey.

"Mikes!" He yelled, tackling him into a hug, kissing him on the cheek repeatedly. No one seemed phazed.

"Uh, Hayden." Frank whispered as Vic was distracted. "Brandon."

"Oh, shit, sorry." He replied, quickly moving back to his protective position, Brandon relaxing almost immediately. 

"Hey!" Ryan suddenly yelled. He looked pissed. The room fell silent. "Why the fuck are we here and why the  _fuck_ did you ruin my truck?!"

"We, uh..... why did we do that again?" Andy said, frowning at Dave in confusion, who merely shrugged in return.

"They could've been Scarecrows." Benn said, his shirt now drenched in water.

"But there were two Wolves. Freely using abilities- Taddie what the fuck?!"

"Hey don't look at me!" Brent said, defensively. "It was Vic's idea!"

"Big goddamn surprised there." Hayden scoffed, making everyone stare at Vic.

Vic rolled his eyes. "They were on a dangerous road at a dangerous time. A whole heap of Scarecrows came through there a little more than 20 minutes ago. They passed through about an hour ago. They would've been taken in in seconds." He shrugged. And.... there were no vibes of dishonesty. Frank exchanged a look with Brandon, who looked equally surprised. 

"Wait, which way were they going?" Frank asked.

"Uh, south east-ish. Why?"

"Shit!" Frank turned to Mikey, fear in his eyes. "Zack and Rian!"

Mikey breathed in sharply, his eyes widening. Then he froze and-

"Fuck! I've just- Frank they... Brendon! They.... They brought Alex."

"What?!" Brendon's eyes widened and Ryan looked ready to pass out."That's.... Holy shit that's amazing!" A wide grin had broken onto his face. But Mikey only looked sad. 

"No. He's different. He's.... in the vision he was about to shoot Zack."

"Then we're leaving right now-"

"No can do, man." Brent said. "Your truck's dead."

"Good thing we have a fully functional truck, then, isn't it Taddie." Andy said, his voice taking on an unfamiliar air of superiority that made Brent back up slightly. "Plus five bikes."

"How many to a truck?" Ryan asked him.

"Uh, eight, two in the front, six up the back."

"Ok, we'll take that."

"Like hell you will." Hayden said, his eyes narrowing. Then he smirked, his expression becoming more relaxed. "You aren't leaving to face a group of twenty 'crows without us, are you?" Brandon smiled shyly behind him.

"Fine, two of you can ride with us. I'm guessing you can all bike?" There was a collective nod.

"One of the bikes is wrecked though." Andy said. 

"So?" Hayden said. "Oh, you thought Vic was coming? Andy, if he came I'd 'accidentally' have shot him within ten minutes."

"Fuck this." Vic said, leaving the room flipping Hayden off.

"I'll get the stuff." Benn said. He was back about five minutes later, handing Brent a lead pipe and Dave a rusty crowbar. He then tossed an old pistol at Hayden and a pretty lethal looking bat to Brandon. He held two crossed silver pipes at his side and carefully gave Andy what appeared to be a bundle of chains. Andy looked at him confused, but Benn just nodded. 

"Ok, we're all good. Let's save some people!"

 

******

 

Apparently Hayden had the same protective tendencies over vehicles as Ryan, so Hayden drove to Ryan's overall disappointment - it was a really sick truck. The condition, however, was that Ryan sat shotgun, which Hayden would've been fine with until he remembered Brandon.

("Yeah, yeah whatev- wait!"

'Hayden, it's fine, I'll sit in the back.'

"Absolutely fucking not, you think I'm leaving you with them?!"

'I'm not a child! I can sit with Frank, don't worry.'

"Ugh... fine. Ryan try not to be too fucking irritating.")

Dave, Taddie, Andy, and Benn had all taken bikes and followed closely behind the fast moving truck. 

Ryan knew the route like the back of his hand at this point, so his directions were basically accurate for Hayden. Well, until-

'Hey, Hayden-'

The truck swerved and Hayden swore loudly, Ryan yelling "God fucking damn it, Frank!"

'Don't worry, one of his scarves probably just got crumpled.' Came Brandon's.... voice? Thoughts? Who knows. He had background information about each of the newcomers after a brief mind sweep, so yes, he knew about the fucking scarves. 

'Fuck off, Brandon.' Hayden and Ryan thought in unison. 

'What do you want, Frank?'

'Oh, I was just thinking.... what happens if we catch up to the Scarecrows? What then?'

'Huh. Well, I guess Brandon would figure out whether or not their minds are protected - usually only the most important are. Then he'd basically either kill them or make their heads explode. Then Andy, Dave, Taddie and Benn would circle them and random fire for a bit since the bikes are equipped with shotguns- if your friend's the deal you're making him out to be he'll have protection so he ain't getting hit. Then we'll cut in directly and uh.... any mutant stuff?'

'I could alter their vision so they don't hit us. Then once we get closer Brendon can engulf the truck in flames - don't worry we've done it before. Also Pete could isolate Alex and fuck the ground up.'

'Sounds like a plan.' Hayden had managed to take part in the conversation whilst keeping the truck completely steady.

'I'll send it on.' Brandon thought, transmitting the plan to the others, the others in the truck nodding.

'Brandon,' Frank thought, leaving Ryan and Hayden out of conversation. 'How is it that you're so damn strong?'

'Practice, I s'pose. Plus my dad's a Wolf so I've known how to control it since I was little. And, uh, before they took me..... before the Scarecrow's got me I had a pretty bad stutter. It helped.'

'Huh. That's-'

"Hey!" Brendon said, everyone jumping at the sudden yell. "You might wanna look at this." He gestured to three figures ahead of them, too far to figure out details. But they knew it was three trucks.

'Hayden, are you seeing this?' Frank thought.

'Yeah, ok, send on the message to the others. We're hitting this thing at full throttle. Brandon can you test them from here?'

'It's too far, you've gotta get us closer.'

'Alright.' Hayden sped the truck up, the bikes trailing shortly behind. In a few minutes they were almost upon the group. 

'Frank, uh, mentally watch my back if you know what I mean.'

'Got it.'

Brandon closed his eyes. 'Ok, the truck furthest back's all clear. Truck at the front has one guy with protection. The middle has... I think they're all clean, but-'

"Brandon, pull back!" Frank yelled. Frank's vision went fuzzy, and that was just from following Brandon's path. Brandon moved back like he'd been burned, grabbing his ears which were filled with ringing and -  are those screams?

"Woah, what's-" Brendon started, noticing Brandon's distress.

'Nothing, it's- fuck, they know we're here!' Brandon responded, his voice in their minds panicky. 'They know who we are, they- fuck, they know who I am-'

"Brandon, calm down." Frank said, firmly. "We need to attack." His message was said mentally and verbally. "Everyone ready?" Brandon nodded shakily. 

"Ok. 3.... 2..... 1!"

 

******

 

Brandon's eyes illuminated with an intense light that radiated burning power, and the air was filled with maniacal screaming from the Scarecrows ahead, who crawled out of the trucks and and began to either run around in circles grasping their ears, manically claw at the ground or lay on the it, completely still. 

'Go!' Frank yelled into the minds of the guys riding bikes. The screams were immediately accompanied by the sounds of roaring engines and shotgun fire, grey smoke spewing behind the four bikes. Brandon crumpled onto his side, his energy completely drained, and the still living Scarecrows regained their sanity. Their sanity didn't do anything to protect them from the onslaught of bullets, a few more bodies dropping to the ground. The remaining ones seemed to have become fully aware now, making their way back to the trucks which seemed to have equipped bulletproof material. The outlier in the scene, however, were two Scarecrows in higher classed clothing and a casually clothed guy-

"Holy shit!" Brendon yelled. "It's him!"

'Don't shoot!' Frank told the guys on bikes, their shotguns still ready.

"Alright, on my count we drive right through. 3-"

A Scarecrow's truck rammed into them.

"No!" Hayden yelled in agony. On reflection it he was probably just dismayed about the truck. 

The truck spun a few times but remained upright, Pete managing to keep it under control. 

"Mikey, why aren't you seeing any of this?" Frank regretted it as soon as he said it, Mikey looking dangerously pale. 

"They've got protection against pre-cog in the area. He's so sick even without trying." Gerard said, holding Mikey upright for stability. "Trying to have a vision could kill him."

"Shit. I'm so sorry. Pete, we stable?"

"Yeah, we're good. The trucks are gone though."

"Fuck. Where's Alex?"

"Uh.... on his own! He's running towards us!"

'Hayden, get to Alex!'

Alex was in fact now sprinting toward them waving his arms frantically at them. He climbed up to them when he reached the truck. There was silence for a moment, letting it sink in that he was here and he was safe. Then Brendon burst into tears, pulling Alex into a hug. Alex hugged back tightly. 

"I'm so sorry, Alex, if it weren't for me you would-"

"No, shut up, Brendon it wasn't your fault it was theirs. There's nothing you could've done."

"Oh my god, we thought they had brainwashed-"

"Don't, fuck, don't remind me, they- they threatened to torture Jack, to make me torture Jack is I didn't do that stuff."

"About Jack.... Alex he's only five minutes from here."

Alex sat back against the side of the truck that was now moving again, the huge wave of dust within sight. A huge grin was plastered on his face. Jack.

But nobody heard Mikey's weak whispers of protest.

 

********

 

Alex's heart thumped loudly in his chest as he found himself less than an inch away from the door of where his best friends lived without him. He took a deep breath and knocked three times. Then he waited, a lump in his throat. 

"If that's Brendon fucking Urie, I swear to-" Rian started, swinging the door open angrily. His anger dropped immediately as he found himself face to face with Alex. 

"Uh, hey Rian, I-" Alex was pulled into a huge hug, Rian's tears practically drenching his shirt. 

"I missed you so fucking much. So fucking much. Oh my god. Come inside. Holy shit." He pulled Alex inside, both of them smiling like crazy. 

"Rian, who was it?" Zack said, his concerned expression plastered onto his face as usual. Then he saw Alex and it washed off his face like a wave of relief from the pain and loss five years had caused him. He ran forward and lifted Alex off his feet, his arms around the taller guy. He was bawling his eyes out. "A-Alex, oh my god, Alex I- I missed you so much. Oh my god, Jack! We-"

"No, I'll go see him alone. I need to see him alone." Rian nodded quickly, his hands shaking violently. He could only point to Jack's room. Alex nodded, walking slowly towards it. His legs shook and he reached out for the cold handle, turning it slowly and entering the dark room. 

"Rian, I told you I'm busy-"

"Hey, Jack." Jack froze. He turned slowly in his chair, the sheer bliss on his face almost masked by the room's darkness. Almost.

"A-Alex?"

"It's me, Jack. I'm here now." Jack ran into his arms, holding him tightly until-

"Except I don't like you anymore. Only your lovely ability."

"W... Alex, wha-" Jack was pushed roughly to the floor, Alex cuffing his hands to a heavy table weighed down by several computers. Jack desperately tried to pull against it but he was so weak. Jack couldn't do anything as Alex left the room, a gun in his hand. And Jack certainly couldn't do anything when he heard two gunshots, two bodies dropping to the floor. Never to move again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was hard for me as well. Chapter title from this one https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xZ2yP7iUDeg . Also what do you guys think? Are you happy with the ships and characters so far? Let me know :)


	13. Did I Only Make Things Worse?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am so sorry that took so damn long, assignments piled up and I'm really sorry (that is if anyone even cares that much lmao). Plus that cliff hanger was brutal I'm sorry.

"We did it!" Andy yelled, the trademark enthusiasm ringing fresh in his voice. Rightfully so, the 12 having arrived home with their lives intact. "Dave, go send out a message to Aeon. You know how much they love hearing that we've won something."

"Sure thing." He said, laughing as he rushed off to the communications room and the others cheered their lungs out. Even Brandon had woken up by now, he and Hayden taking their usual secluded though the happiness made itself present in Hayden's grin. Brandon didn't look quite as relaxed as the others.

"I can't fucking believe he's back!" Brendon yelled, followed by a loud cheer that came mainly from Ryan. 

"He and Barakat are probably making up for lost time right now." Pete smirked, earning himself a tired slap from Mikey, who was pulled into a gentle kiss in return.

"Oh, god, I know you're weak and all Mikey but can't you move enough to find a room." Brendon laughed, walking backwards. This resulted in him tripping and falling backwards, however, falling directly into the arms of...

"Oh shit, sorry Ryan, I-" then Ryan's lips cut him off and Brendon's eyes widened, returning the kiss almost immediately. 

"'Bout fucking time!" Frank yelled.

'You guys do think about each other a lot.' Brandon added, everyone laughing except Ryan and Brendon who were preoccupied.

"Ok, seriously, you guys can stop now." Frank said, Brendon and Ryan continuing to make out. "Guys, please."

"Hey!" Dave had run back in, the fear in his chest too severe to even notice Brendon and Ryan. "You're gonna want to see this."

The cheering was silenced almost immediately as the slow, anxious walk towards the communications room begun. It was unimpressive, really, a simple radio and a computer that had long run flat. Except the it wasn't black. The tear-stained face of Jack Barakat filled the screen. He looked like he'd just witnessed the murder of his fucking family. Unless..

"Jack?" Brendon gasped, who had now detached himself from Ryan. 

"It's a recording, came in a couple minutes ago." Dave responded, his voice shaking. "Who knows how long ago he filmed it."

"I don't have any time to explain." Jack's voice was filled with static, the shitty speaker of the computer increasing the shitty quality. But they could hear every word he said. "Alex is one of them. He murdered Zack and Rian. I've turned myself into a sort of tracker so you can follow us when he takes me. He's smart. He's violent. Please.... I want him back. I want him back-"

"Jack?" They heard Alex say in a mock sing-songy tone. Then the computer shut off.

They sat in silence for a solid minute. This wasn't fair. 

"Fuck." Ryan said, breaking the still silence. "FUCK!"

Brendon broke down into tears.

The room broke out into murmurs and cries and sobs of it isn't fair, it isn't fair, it isn't fair until-

"Stop!" The group jumped. Gerard stood behind them, his expression truly angry for the first time since they'd seen him. They'd never heard the guy that loud before. "It _isn't_ fair. I get that. But there's no point fucking crying over it. That isn't going to save Jack. We need to attack. We need to get him the fuck out of there and anyone else along the way because I can't live in a world where everyone I love could be fucking murdered in a heart beat."

"You think we haven't tried that before?!" Brent yelled. The rage on his face almost matched Gerard's.

"Of course you have, I'm not stupid. But you've never tried with four extra Wolves fighting on your side." Brent's expression softened.

There was silence for a minute. Then Andy spoke.

"Ok. Let's do it. Let's save Aeon."

 

*******

 

"Ok!" They were gathered around Andy, their only thought now set to Aeon. Andy held the leadership for the Runaways after Bones....."By truck the trip'll take about 2 and a half days at the most. We know where to pick up another truck about an hour from here, so we can use the arrangement from before until we get to Aeon. Hayden, you're driving the second one so let Ryan drive the first."

"Fine." Hayden said stubbornly.

"The drive will be easy. Getting through the ACC- uh, Aeon City Central-"

"We know." Pete said, rolling his eyes. "Just cos we haven't been in five years doesn't mean we don't get updates."

"Uh, ok. Anyway, the place is ridiculous to get into. The biggest threats would be the commanding guards. They're these guys the Raven's wife-" the other Runways groaned. That bitch was horrible. "-hand picked, they fulfilled the role of lethal weapon or something. There are two at ACC, and there's rumoured to be a third, a spy. But it's just a rumour, no real evidence. Anyway, the two were trained- well I say trained. Tortured is more appropriate. They're absolutely lethal. First guy's Oliver Sykes. Apparently he was drugged. Only way past him would be a bullet to the damn heart. The second's a guy called Austin Carlile, little more human there. Don't need him dead, just knocked out. He's also rumoured to rebel occasionally, but he's an insane killer. You'll need Wolves for both. After them there's a few floors that'll disable your powers. Then a floor full of Wolves. My idea is free the Wolves, use them as an army. Then we can take out the Raven and any Scarecrow that gets in the way. Good?"

There was collective agreement.

"Hey, they're gonna need some decent weaponry, especially with all that anti-Wolf shit." Benn said, running off to another room. He came back with an array of knives and heavy things, which each of them took gratefully. Except Mikey. 

"Mikey, you're gonna need it." Benn urged when Mikey only stared at it. 

"Mikes?" Gerard said, frowning, squeezing his brothers shoulder. Pete attempted to put an arm around him, but Mikey pulled away. Then he collapsed completely. 

"Mikey!" Gerard and Pete yelled in unison.

"Frank, what's wrong with him?" Gerard asked, his voice ringing with desperation. 

'He's dying.'

The voice in their mind hadn't been Frank's but Brandon's. Hayden looked solemn.

'We keep having to take him into places that disable his abilities. And every time you make him see into the future he's weakened even further. I'd say he's been half dead since that stunt he pulled with Frank.'

"Why the fuck did you choose just now to tell us this, ass hole?!" Pete yelled, his grip tightening on the hammer he'd been given by Benn. Hayden took a step forward, his eyes narrowed.

'His ability gives him protection even against me. Especially recently. He had to focus his energy on keeping himself alive, not letting me or Frank in. Now his powers have been weakened so greatly that the protection itself completely deteriorated. I only just found out myself.'

Pete stood in silence for a second. Then he slammed his hand down on the table. "How the fuck do we fix him then?!"

"Get him to Aeon." Andy spoked up. "That's the only place that'll have the medical care needed to fix him."

"Then why aren't we in the truck?!" Gerard yelled. He had a look in his eyes that could have been mistaken for determination, but there was something else there. 

Hunger. Desperation. 

At this point he was willing to do anything to save Mikey. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter title from this one https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NS0bkMlKqOI


	14. The Things I've Lost

The vibes in the air made Frank uncomfortable. Brandon agreed. They'd been driving for over an hour now, and no one had said a word. Frank had never been surrounded by this much.... well, determination before. It put him on edge. The feeling was like a confused combination of anxiety and nerves but stronger, more focused. More heavy.

'The station that the truck's in is just up ahead,' Brandon's voice said in his mind. 'We'll be able to stop soon.'

The truck they were seated in came to a stop a few minutes later, Hayden jumping out and gesturing for Brandon to follow. Brandon went to do the same but paused, a his brow furrowed. 

'Brandon? What's up, man?' Frank thought.

Brandon shook his head quickly. 'Nothing, don't worry, something's just..... something just seems off.' He continued to climb out of the truck towards Hayden.

The station appeared to be simply an old warehouse, nothing special. It also looked like it hadn't been used in decades, so Brandon's feelings of uncertainty couldn't have meant much. The bikes pulled up a few minutes later, showering Brandon and Hayden in dust but the former was too on edge to care. He glanced at Frank one more time as their truck started up again. He looked scared. 

As the truck gained distance from the warehouse Frank could've sworn he heard one weak thought in the back of his mind.

'Help.'

 

**********

 

"No." Vic whispered. The package had been sitting at his feet for what felt like years before he finally built up the nerve to open it. The Raven's brand was melted onto the front. 

An envelope had been taped neatly to the crumbled brown packaging, which Vic had opened gingerly. Two photographs fell face down on the dusty ground as he pulled out the letter inside. 

'2 years is a long time Mr Fuentes.

Perhaps this will persuade you to speed the simple task assigned to you.'

Vic wanted to throw up. He picked up one of the photos, the front now coated with a thin layer of dirt. That didn't make the image any less clear. His friend Tony was lying on the floor. Blood was everywhere. There was a large stab wound in his back. 

Dead.

It took everything for him to pick up the second photo. His heart dropped when he turned it over.

His little brother. Dead. 

He should have cried. Tears should have been streaming down his face but he couldn't. He felt too empty now for tears to even start to form. 

Vic opened the package, the brown paper breaking away to reveal a single, blood stained finger. 

He no longer had a choice. It had to be done today.

It had to be done now. 

 

***********

 

'Don't open that.'

Hayden raised an eyebrow at his friend, having gone to open the large door of the warehouse. The thing was operated by a huge wheel and fully opened the front.

"Why not? Something up?"

'No, I.... I don't know, just feels off, just.... just wait for the others to get ready.'

Benn had walked over to the two a minute later, Taddie, Dave and Andy following abruptly. 

"Hayden, open it up!" Andy said, a wide grin plastered onto his face. None of this reality ever seemed to go the guy's head. He had to be the world's biggest optimist. Sure, no one was against him becoming the next leader, it was the obvious choice. Benn was too naïve, Taddie too reckless and opinionated, Dave too gentle for solid rationality. Hayden didn't want it. Brandon couldn't. And no one had been closer to Bones than Andy. Regardless, at least Bones had had the sense of realism Andy so often lacked. Andy saw only the best in people. And one day it would get them killed.

'Hayden, don't.' Brandon thought again.

Haden frowned, glancing at both of them in confusion. 

"Uh, Hayden. What are you waiting for?"

"I-"

"Fuck this, I'll do it." Taddie said, shoving Hayden aside. Brandon held his breath as the wheel was spun, the heavy door slowly creaking to fully open. He sighed in relief. Nothing there but the truck. He must've been paranoid or imagining something.... 

"See? Truck's right there, no need to-" Taddie was cut off by the small silver bullet that was now plunging through his chest, straight through the heart. 

"Taddie!" Dave and Hayden yelled as his body fell to the ground. Benn's hand had shot to his mouth, tears beginning to form in his eyes. Andy froze. Brandon had to glance at him only briefly to be reminded of what only Andy saw that day. 

Bones had died in the exact same way. 

Andy fell to his knees, numb. If there was a fight now, he wasn't going to be a part of it. 

"Damn! Shame that wasn't Hayden, at least Taddie had somewhat faith in me."

Vic Fuentes had walked out of the shadows. 

"Fuentes, what the fuck do you think you're doing." Dave snarled, his voice cold and challenging. 

"Oh calm down, David, I won't kill off the rest of you. Unless you don't do exactly as I say. Then I'll skin each one you one at a time and make whoever's still alive watch, you know I fucking will."

"Or I could just, y'know, shoot you in the motherfucking head." Hayden growled, his pistol raised towards the suggested target.

"You aren't shooting your only chance of survival you stupid son of a bitch. I hate Scarecrows as much as you do and there's a swarm of them coming your way right now to make sure I've done my job as we speak. I promise none of you will die if you don't kill me now and let me hand over Brandon-"

"Oh fuck that." Hayden said, taking off the safety. 

'Hayden, stop it!' Brandon's voice yelled in their minds. 'I'm going. I don't need your fucking permission. And you - all of you - are staying alive.' Brandon was staring him straight in the eye. He went to walk towards Vic when Hayden pulled him into a hug, holding his best friend as tightly as possible.

"I can't lose you to them. Not again."

'You won't. I promise. I'm going to see you again.'

"You fucking better."

Brandon laughed sadly. Hayden still hadn't let him go. 

"Ok, if you two are done making out, they're gonna be here in about five minutes. Now would everyone kindly cover themselves in Taddie's blood. And cut yourselves up a bit, really sell it. Make it look like you've been brutally murdered, I'm sure you know what that looks like."

They all glared at him, Andy still in shock but more able to move. They did as he said anyway. 

"You're...." Andy started, stumbling over the words, his voice cracking. "You're the third assassin. The one in the rumours."

"Very good, Andrew!" Vic said, his voice laced with mock enthusiasm. "Now get on the damn ground."

A helicopter landed beside them soon after, strong wind whipping through their now blood drenched clothing. Brandon had to say, they'd done a pretty good job of appearing slaughtered. Then again, they'd seen enough of it to know what that looked like.

Vic had done him up in chains, held securely. Look despairing is what he'd whispered. That wasn't exactly hard. He only had to look at Hayden, who had been done up in extreme realism. 

Also, Taddie was generally pretty pain inducing. 

The helicopter opened to a grey-haired woman, who walked towards them with a cold smile. 

"Good work, Mr Fuentes. Though I must say it took a long time."

"They are a very close knit group, ma'am, I had to eventually trap them."

"Shame you didn't think of that three years ago, hm? Then Mr Preciado wouldn't have had to experience loss of limb."

"I-"

"Shame about these boys, really, they would have worked nicely for us. Though, yes, I suppose death would have been the easiest result." She turned back towards Vic, her attention immediately drawn to Brandon. 

"And who is this gorgeous specimen!" She grabbed his face, Vic holding the chains tighter as he attempted to pull away. "Ah, yes I remember this one. So much power in that pretty little head of yours. We're glad to be taking you back, Mr Hoover. So very glad."

Brandon whimpered. Her face brought back so many memories of torture and pain and cruelty and he couldn't go back again, he couldn't go back again....

But he had to. He had to keep Hayden safe. 

"Come, there's a special seat preferred for you in the vehicle, precious. We'll burn the bodies as we go-"

'A-actually, ma'am, I'd like to take care of them myself when I return. Well, the remains, that is."

"Very well. Now let's be off. The Raven truly has missed the presence of this one."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter title from this one https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=86uZuVOWaZk. Alan comes in next chapter :D


	15. Echoes Of A World I've Left Behind

Jaime should've been used to the obnoxious knocking and disturbances by now. It had been, what, two years of this endless torture now? More? He'd lost count. 

But no, the loud banging from outside the heavy door still sent him into a tense fit of flinching. He doubted it would ever stop scaring the shit out of him. 

"Ay, Preciado!" One of them yelled, continuing to slam his fist against the hard metal that kept him trapped. "Get up! You're being moved!"

"Already up." He replied bluntly. In truth, he didn't sleep much anymore. Sleep just allowed the nightmares to come back. There was also a certain numbness in being permanently exhausted. The punches hurt less. The blood spilled softer. 

The door crashed open, two Scarecrows walking in after it. Jaime lazily offered his cuffed hands to them, the all too familiar metal rod snapping on in half a second, pulling him roughly out of the room regardless of the fact that there had been absolutely no resistance. Not that there ever was anymore. They were probably still pissed about the protection thing. Here Jaime was nothing more than a prize, an incentive for Vic to return successfully. That meant he had to be kept, in  _her_ words, 'pure'. Which essentially meant no sexual abuse. Like normal abuse, fine, but nothing that threatened to make him less of a trophy. Fucked, isn't it? That these people get pissed about not being able to...... he didn't like to think about it. 

The Scarecrows continued the unnecessarily rough walk to the nearest elevator. He expected to be sent down, other moves had sent him to other rooms on this level or onto lower levels, never higher than this one. The level up from this went into Wolf territory, where they were tested, altered. Tortured. 

But they went up. 

"Wait, what? Where are we going?!" He frowned. He was comfortable enough now to at least address them without shaking at this point. Only the assigned torturers were allowed to hurt him really badly. 

"Your room, dipshit." One of them grunted, his voice rough and gravely. Jaime recognised this one. The fact that they all wore illogically long masks tended to throw him off a bit, but certain voices and mannerisms eventually distinguished one from another. This one worked on Jaime's floor a lot.

The elevator opened and he was dragged forward, again in a way that was far more aggressive than required. He had never been on this floor before. Which is what made the scene before his eyes even more terrifying. 

Jaime wanted to throw up. The hallway they walked across was lined with room after room of pain, torture, and grief, separated from the people in the hall by glass panels. Their pain was on full display. 

The Scarecrows appeared to notice his discomfort. However, instead of trying to help, one decided it would be funny to turn Jaime's face directly towards every room to his right and force him to watch. 

There was a guy lying on a table that had been moved into a slanted upright position, wires connected to various parts of his body, electricity pumping through the wires. Out of him. He was gagged to muffle the screaming. 

There was another guy panting in the middle of a room, his clothes blackened and charred. The room would occasionally spurt fire at him, which he was forced to quench by summoning water every time. The last Jaime saw was barely a weak squirt. They were draining him.

There was a girl who had passed out at the back of a room, her arms and legs splayed out at odd angles. There was a muzzle over her mouth hooked up to a machine. Jaime finally managed to look away. 

"Here's your new room." The same Scarecrow from before said, shoving him inside after removing the rod, locking him behind another heavy door as the two walked away.

Jaime could hardly breathe. He couldn't live like this.

"Messed up, isn't it?" Jaime flinched as he heard the voice. This also brought him to the realisation that he wasn't alone. 

"Woah, calm down, I'm not here to hurt you." The guy had fiery red hair and stood from one of the two beds the room had he had been seated on, offering his hand for Jaime to shake. 

"Who.... Who are you?" It had been too long since Jaime had been in the same room as a plain clothed person that didn't want to hurt him. Or any person that didn't want to hurt him. 

The guy pulled his hand back awkwardly and crossed his arms. "I'm Alan. And we're in the same situation."

"Why are you here?"

"Hey, we need to talk for at least, like, five minutes before you unlock the depressing backstory, man. What's your name?"

"Uh, ok. I'm Jaime."

After a few minutes of awkward small talk they started getting into the depressing backstories. 

"Yours first." Alan said when the topic arose.

"Uh, I've been here about two years now, I used to live with my boyfriend in 9th. He had a certain talent, that he abused to be quite honest, for killing Scarecrows. But one day the fuckers broke into our house while he was out and beat me up, they, uh..... when he came back they threatened to kill me if he didn't work for them. I'm alive right now so you can imagine what his response was. Since then he's been on some top secret mission they won't tell me about. I'm being kept as incentive and.... encouragement." He held up his left hand. Two fingers had been cut off. 

"Damn, dude. I've never had anything cut off but I know what the torture's like. I'm incentive as well, except more long term. I've been here since everything started. That's, what, five years now? More? They'll probably keep me 'til I die. You know the two commanding guards?"

"Only rumours, but yeah."

"Well one of them just happens to be my boyfriend. As long as they've got me he'll keep fighting for them. And I can't kill myself or anything, he'd just lose hope completely and fight even crueler.'" He laughed to himself in a sad, breathy kind of way. "I remember we were halfway through a fucking Disney movie marathon when they broke in, and he'd been..... he'd just proposed as well. Then they dragged me away and I remember he was yelling after me and we haven't- I haven't spoken to him since. I mean I've seen him, I've seen him from afar, but-"

"I understand. I haven't seen Vic in years, and I know how much it fucking sucks, man."

"Yeah...." Alan trailed off. The confidence he's conveyed at first had shrivelled away into past memories that Jaime knew only brought unbearable pain. He decided it was time to change the subject.

"So, uh, how the hell do you cope with living on this level?"

"You learn to ignore it after a while. Well, I say ignore, but..... most of them have had their voices taken away from them permanently so screaming just becomes hoarse shouting, hardly a whisper. Sad, but... it makes it easier to forget. At least we don't have any windows facing towards them."

"Yeah, speaking of windows, this room is a hell of a fucking upgrade. Nice view."

"It could be worse. You know why they moved you? They usually keep unconfirmed Wolves as my roommates."

"Oh god, I sure as hell hope that's not me. They usually move me at least once a month, something to do with Scarecrows not wanting the commitment. Not a Wolf."

"You sure? Anything you're unusually good at?"

"I guess in another universe I'd be a great GP, but I did medicine in college. Plus my aunt was a doctor, she took me to work with her when my parents were busy."

"Right, yeah. They usually make a bigger deal when they think it's a Wolf, you're probably fine."

"Yeah, I-"

The door slammed open loudly again, Jaime flinching at the interruption. Fuck he flinched a lot. Alan just looked more annoyed than scared.

"What." Alan said, rolling his eyes. 

"I got a message for your new roommate, Ashby. Preciado, looks like your boyfriend's finally finished what he was s'pose to do two years ago. He's waiting for you outside."

Jaime jumped to his feet, his jaw dropping open. After two years. Finally. 

"It also pains me to say you're now no longer under the captivity of Aeon City Central, though whether you and" the Scarecrow scowled, " _Mr_ Fuentes return to 9th city is now up to the Raven's wife to decide." He then undid Jaime's cuffs with so much reluctance Alan had started smirking. 

Jaime moved his hands to his sides and glared at the Scarecrow. "Wait, since I'm no longer a prisoner, does this now make me a guest?"

The Scarecrows groaned. "Yes..... sir."

Jaime grinned again. Fuck yeah. "And I guess that also means I am now above you in terms of status, due to the role given to Vic."

"Yes, sir."

"Awesome. Now take me to Vic." He stopped, turning to Alan. "Hey, good luck, man. I'll see you again."

Alan rolled his eyes. "I'll be fine. Now get out."

"Right. Vic."

And he walked out of the door towards the elevator without any damn shoving. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter title from this one https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WJwQ8ezN40c


	16. For My Fallen Stars

"I'm finished, right?"

The helicopter had almost completed it's descent onto the platform below them, wind whipping through Vic's hair violently. "After this I'm done?"

The Raven's wife sighed, nodding. "Yes, that was our deal. Though I am disappointed that you have no interest in remaining in your position to fight for the Raven's cause."

"Yeah, no thank you." His reply was cold and she glared at him.

The wind stopped and the door's opened, Vic slipping out with his lip curled at her. The second he could get out of here he was going to be so far gone they'd have nothing left of him but the blood they'd taken from Jaime. 

And there he was, standing on the edge of the landing, hope in his eyes and free of his chains. Jaime.

He broke into a sprint the second he saw the guy, who was now smiling so hard he looked like he was practically tearing up. Vic threw himself into Jaime's arms and he felt really happy for the first time in years.

"I missed you so fucking much, Jaime, I-"

"It's ok. I missed you too." They had both broken into sobs at this point. Vic leaned up to kiss him gently and it felt like the greatest moment in his life. Maybe it was. 

The Raven's wife cleared her throat behind them and Jaime pulled away quickly, that fear and order drilled into his brain forever.

"All reunions aside, there are formalities that must be taken care of. Specifically your living arrangements."

"We're going back home." Vic snarled, his arm held at Jaime's waist protectively.

She narrowed her eyes. "We have received intel that your former home was burnt down three months after your departure. We are unaware of the source, but we have been informed of Runaway sightings within the area at the time."

"Bullshit." Jaime muttered loud enough that Vic could hear clearly. "I heard the orders to burn the place come right out of her mouth."

"I'm sorry, Mr Preciado?" Her eyebrow was raised in a condescending way. 

"Oh, I just said filthy Runaway scum."

She seemed contented with that.

"We have, however, arranged a home within 1st City as an option for you both to be accommodated. There is also a large house behind Aeon City Central reserved for the two of you."

"We'll go back to 9th, thanks."

"I'm afraid that is not an option, Mr Fuentes." Her voice had taken on a harsher tone suddenly, the Scarecrows beside them bringing up their guns defensively. Jaime flinched and Vic held him tighter.

"We'll- we'll take the one in 1st City."

She nodded. Any trace of amusement, no matter how false, was gone. "This home is, however, currently under construction. You shall be staying within the Aeon City Central home until further notice. You will also be expect to obey the rules involved with living in this area."

"Thank you." Jaime whispered. And she marched away, handing Vic a map and the Scarecrows the same map.

Vic was fuming. 

"They burn down our fucking home, force us to live under constant threat and strip us of choices-"

A groan of pain came from behind them as the previously forgotten Wolf was dragged out of the helicopter by two Scarecrows, eyes red and body practically limp. They'd drugged him. 

He was dragged across the dirty runway, his legs too weak to carry him. Vic's heart dropped. This was entirely his fault. He mouthed an apology as the guy's limp form passed them.

Brandon couldn't even look at him.

 

************

 

"Fuck!"

It was nightfall by now and the air was fucking freezing.

The bikes had run out of gas and there hadn't been a working truck in that garage for a lot longer than they had thought. So obviously Hayden was furious.

Oh, and his best friend was practically dead.

"How the fuck can you all just sit there?!" He screamed, dust circling his ankles as he paced and kicked and yelled. It was true though, that the others had barely moved since Vic's departure. Benn had almost immediately retreated to the roof of the garage to mope and breathe, and Andy had passed out. The same thing had happened when Bones died. The guy had slept for three days and wouldn't talk for three weeks after. Brandon used to joke that he was being insensitive. Brandon...

"What did you expect, Tree?" Dave's voice below him was barely a whisper. He'd never seen him this sad before. Sure, he'd dropped after Bones, but this was different. Dark circles had formed under his eyes like bruises and in the space of what, four hours, he looked like he hadn't eaten in months, jaw slack, eyes blood shot. "Taddie's gone. Brandon's gone. There are four of us left and if Andy keeps up his sleep like that again there's no way of getting him moved. We're finished."

"Dave, what the fuck is-"

"Finished!" And then he collapsed, his body falling beside Andy's limp and motionless.

"Dave?!" Hayden kept to his side, shaking his friend who remained lifeless. He couldn't lose anyone else. Not today. "Dave, wake up! Dave!"

"Dave isn't here right now." His back had shot up, Dave now sitting totally upright, eyes glowing with an almost blinding blue light. "Sorry. This was the only way we could contact you."

"Who the fuck are you and get the fuck out of my friend."

"Hayden, calm down, it's Frank. And I promise I'll be out soon. That sounded wrong. I just needed to know if Brandon was ok, something had put him on edge and-"

"Brandon's gone."

The voice talking through Dave was silent.

"We were ambushed- Vic did it. He was working for the Raven, but he said he'd let us live if we handed Brandon over to them. Taddie's dead."

"Fuck."

"We don't have a truck and the bikes are dead. We're done."

"Fuck that. We're about a day's trip from Aeon now. We'll drop off half and then head back to pick up whoever's left of you. You didn't think you were getting out of this fight, did y-" Dave faltered. He looked pale - too pale. 

"Frank, let him go! Now!"

His eyes diminished and Dave collapsed again. He wasn't breathing. 

"Dave! Fuck, Dave, breathe buddy!" Hayden hand searched frantically for some sort of pulse.

"Hayden?" Benn's voice sounded from behind him, the younger guy now rushing towards them in shock. 

"Benn, I can't- he's not breathing, he's..... I don't know what to-"

"Hayden....." Hayden stopped. Dave had spoken. 

"Oh my god thank fuck." Hayden collapsed onto Dave's chest close to sobs, which he immediately regretted, reminded of Dave's current state. "Shit, sorry man, I just..... I can't lose another friend."

"I get it. What happened?"

"Frank, if you can fucking believe it. Had to contact us someway and he chose sapping you of energy until you nearly fucking died. They're gonna pick us up to get to Aeon in around 2 and a half days I'd say, drop some of the others there first."

Dave nodded slowly. "What do we do with Andy?"

Andy still lay there, still in his sleep, totally unaware that one of his closest friends had almost died.

Benn sneered in his direction. "Some leader."

"Don't you ever say that again." Dave's eyes had gone cold. "I swear to god, Suede, I will gut you."

"I'm just saying. About to overthrow the government and he's asleep-"

"Shut up."

"Why are you defending-?"

"Shut up!"

"Dave." The three turned around so fast their necks nearly snapped. "He's right."

"Andy?"

"I can't pull that shit again, not this time. We're gonna save Aeon. And I can't miss that."

Silence.

"Oh, and Hayden?"

"Y-yeah?"

"If Frank ever pulls that shit with Dave again, do me a favour will you?"

"What's that?"

"Snap his neck."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter title from this one https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cD4bdTYp63o fuck those are hard to pick out


	17. Time Is Running Out

"Are we there yet?" Brendon whined. Sure, Ryan loved him. He loved him unconditionally. Endlessly. But FUCK he could be annoying. 

"Brendon, I'm not gonna say no to you again."

Five minutes passed.

"Ryan?"

"Yes, Bren?"

"Are we the-"

The truck scraped to a halt as Ryan slammed his foot onto the breaks and sighed. He then proceeded to turn fully towards Brendon and slap him in the face.

"Ow! What the fuck was that for?!"

"Brendon. Sunshine. Angel. I love you. But JESUS FUCKING CHRIST I SWEAR TO GOD I WILL KICK YOU OUT OF THIS TRUCK."

Brendon pouted. Ryan was pretty sure he heard Frank snorting with laughter above them. Legitimately snorting. Gerard must've been confused as hell.

"Fuck you, Iero!"

'You two should kiss.'

Ryan groaned. "Would you like to sit up with the others?"

Brendon shook his head, still pouting. Then his mouth broke into a half grin. 

"Nah, it's just.... nevermind."

"Hey you can't bring it up and not tell me."

'He thinks you're cute when you're frustrated.'

"Fuck you, Iero!" It was Brendons turn to yell this time. 

Ryan glared at Brendon momentarily before re-starting the truck.

"We're only half a day away now, ok? But it's gonna be a lot quicker if I can actually focus."

"Ugh, fine. I'm just  _bored_."

"You've survived six hour drives to the Motel before."

"Yeah but I was driving. And as dicky as he was, Rian was actually-" he stopped, his easy smile dropping. He'd forgotten about Rian. 

"Brendon-"

"It's our fault."

"No, it's not!"

"Yes it is. We delivered a damn time bomb to their front door and we never took a second to think. We knew what had happened to Alex at ACC and we did nothing-"

"Brendon, stop it. This is the fault of the bastards who changed him and the second we get to ACC those bastards die. Got it?"

Brendon looked forward, eyes focused on the road in front of them. "Drive."

Ryan did.

 

*********

 

Gerard would have been concerned as to why his boyfriend had burst into a fit of laughter. He also would have been concerned as to why Pete kept deciding to craft dicks out of the earth as the passed. But frankly (hehe) he was used to both of those things by now.

And Mikey wasn't getting any better.

The kid (well, he was like 30, but he was fragile and small and vulnerable and most importantly Gerard's little brother so yes he was a goddamn kid) hadn't moved unless jolted by the less than smooth journey of the truck and he was so pale. 

'His ability is working against him.' Brandon had told him before the journey had commenced. 'He's gonna keep seeing things that matter and he's subconsciously gonna keep saving every one of you until his heart stops. My advice is keep him relaxed. And try to keep him asleep, at least when his mind takes over he might have the energy to pull through. I would suggest keep yourself out of trouble but I've been running long enough myself to know that isn't possible.'

That had been over a day ago and nothing had happened yet. He hoped it'd stay that way.

"What the fuck!" It had been Pete to snap Gerard back to attention, the guy staring at Frank, eyes wide. And fair enough- Frank's eyes were blue. 

And not like 'trying out contacts for a change' blue. Glowing. 

"Frankie?" Gerard said in a poor attempt to cover his fear. The only time he'd seen this before had been.... Brandon. 

Frank gasped loudly as if pulling himself out a damn coma. He frowned. Then he looked at the concerned expression around him and frowned some more. 

"....... You guys ok?"

"What the fuck happened?!"

"Woah, it's cool. I just contacted the guys, managed to latch onto something in Dave's head, I think his dad might've been a Wolf though I can't be sure-"

"Frank!" Pete yelled. 

"Long story short, Brandon's gone and Taddie's dead."

They were silenced, Frank's expression cold. "Next time let me fucking finish."

"What happened to them, Frankie?" Gerard's tone was soft. Frank liked it.

"Vic happened, if you can believe it. He ambushed them, shot Taddie. A half hour later a helicopter was flying off with Brandon inside it. Vic's supposedly on their side though, made them play dead so he didn't have to kill the rest."

"Shit," Pete muttered.

"I promised we'd pick them up the second we get Mikey there, I'll drive them myself if I have to."

"Ryan'll be pissed, that's an extra two days of driving."

"I'll drive myself!" His voice had raised at this point, eyes narrowed. 

"Frankie," Gerard stepped in again. As much as he loved that voice Frank wished he'd stop getting treated like a child. "Frankie, calm down. I know you're upset about Brandon."

It was true. Frank had seen what they'd done, what they'd left Brandons mind to. The memories of the place were like static, his own mind trying to shut them off before they could hurt anyone else. 

"They're gonna kill him."

"They wouldn't-"

"No, they're gonna _kill_ him. He'll be breathing, sure, but it won't be him. He's dead."

Everyone was silent.

Except Mikey.

The frail heap beside Gerard had straightened up, head facing the sky and eyes wide open, words pouring out of his mouth like a conversation that hadn't happened yet.

"I can't-"

"Gee, please,"

"No," sob "I won't, I can't, I can't lose you, too!"

"Gerard, I can't hold on any longer, you have to-"

"No, I-"

"Do it!"

Mikey collapsed. The three were left speechless, fear clutching so tightly around Gerard's throat that he thought he would suffocate. 

Mikey slept softer after that. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry that it's been a while, I am going to finish this I promise. Chapter title from this one https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=khKY8ZFbvfQ


End file.
